Etro's temple
by Seeker of the Skies
Summary: 17 years since she disappeared. Pulse is truly a hell on earth, its lands crawling with murderous barbarians who claim to come from the realm of the goddess, Valhalla. In the midst of this chaos a strange girl appears on pulse who claims to be one of them.
1. Living on hell

First chapter of Etro's temple yays!

This is rather like a really really screwed up xiii-2 in a way, it was originally a story I wrote for english but than it somehow managed to turn it self into this monstrousity full of Light torture and the like.

I'm not to sure where the name comes from, it sort of just popped into my head when I started writing this.

I hope you enjoy the first chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy, Square Enix does (If only I worked for Square Enix).**

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><p><strong><em>Living on hell<em>**

17 years, Serah thought sadly to herself, 17 years without her, 17 years spent without knowing what even happened to her, she'd just disappeared, she'd been there one day and gone the next.

Rising from her position on the floor, she slowly walked towards the windows and checked out side. Behind her, she heard the voice of an old women croak out.

"Are they gone yet dear?"

Carefully scanning the scene outside the window, Serah nodded satisfied that the people who had chased them here were gone. Behind the old women blew a sigh of relief, "That's good to hear; I don't think these old bones are up for much of a fight anymore" Reaching out her hand to Serah she kindly asked "You wouldn't be able to help me up now; sitting on this hard floor hasn't done me very well"

Serah nodded "It wouldn't be a problem Darla" she replied as she reached over and took the older women's hand and slowly helped her rise to her feet. Dusting herself off, Darla looked around the room and signed again.

"Look at what these people have reduce us to, cowering away and hiding, while they go around killing our own and destroying the place, I may have once thought differently but these people have truly turned Pulse into hell"

Serah could only nod; Darla was right, only five years since Cocoons fall they had practically descended from the heavens and destroyed the life that so many people had worked so long and hard to achieve. No one knew what they really were, only that beyond a shadow of a doubt that they weren't human, no matter how much they resembled them. All those people had said of whom they were, was that they came from a place called Valhallah. They called it the realm of the goddess, but Serah couldn't possibly comprehend how such heathens could ever come from a place where a goddess lived, because to her they belonged in hell with demons and Lucifer himself.

Looking over the room much like Darla had, Serah let her gaze fall on a young girl who lay asleep on the floor in the back of the small room where they stood.

Claire, the girl would be turning 15 in a few days from now. Walking over to her she smiled sadly to herself, it was funny how her birthday had landed on the same day as her namesakes. Kneeling down Serah gently shook the girl "Claire, Claire wake up"

Groggily rolling over a little she opened her eyes "Mum?"

"Yeah"

Sitting up Claire looked around she asked "Are those valhallan gone?"

Serah nodded in answer.

She blew a sigh of relief much how Darla had "Good"

Silently agreeing, Serah took her attention away from her daughter and cast her eyes over the window.

Noticing her mother's rather melancholy mood Claire moved from her place on the floor so that she could catch her mother eyes. Despite how they still sleepy looked, it seemed to Serah that there something about her daughter's eyes that made them seem like they could see into your soul, it was creepy in a way, and it certainly didn't help that it was something she'd had a habit of doing ever since she was a toddler.

Leaning back on her hands Claire shifted her gaze away from her mother "Don't let it get to you"

Hearing those words Serah lowered her head, it didn't take her much to understand their meaning, the problem being, it was the opposite for Darla. A quizzical expression on her face the old woman looked over at Claire and asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was talking to mum" The younger girl bit back harshly.

"I know that girl" Darla snarled, evidently annoyed. She didn't like Claire at the best of times, not even when running for their life like they'd had to earlier.

Shrugging Claire answered "17 years then"

"What does that mean?"

"It means what it means old women" Claire answered harshly.

Darla pulled a face at the rudely spoken comment and was about to complain to Serah to try to get her to stop her daughter from being so impolite, when she noticed that the women was in no condition to do so. During her and Claire's short conversation, Serah had sat down on the ground and hugged her legs to her body, her chin resting on her knees.

Confused Darla turned to Claire and asked in a hushed tone "What's wrong with her?"

Signing the girl answered, "I don't think mum really wants to hear it now"

Grumbling, Darla turned to Serah "Serah? What wrong"

She didn't answer her straight away, for a time she just sat there continuing to stare at her own feet for a while. But eventually she did give a meagre reply "I don't feel like talking about it"

Realising that further attempt to get information about her mood from Serah would be futile, Darla turned towards to the windows, soon getting up to walk up to them. Peering out, she saw that the area entirely deserted just like Serah had said. Without turning back to face the two women behind her, she voiced a query "Do you think we should try to head back to the safe house now? It doesn't look like anyone's in the area"

Claire looked over at her mother before giving Darla a nod and getting up off the floor. She decided that it would be better to distract her mother with something else rather than to let her stay consumed by her current thoughts. Reaching over and grapping Serah's hand, she pulled her up and proceeded to walk over to Darla with her hand still clasped around her mothers.

Opening the door, she and Darla carefully scanned the area outside once more before stepping out of the small wooden hut that they had used to hide. The nearest safe house wasn't too far a walk from here, so the danger level couldn't be considered all that high but you could never be sure what could happen along the way with the barbaric Valhallans crawling around the place.

The walk wasn't very eventful, which considering the circumstances was actually pretty lucky. Soon enough the entrance to the safe house became visible. It was hidden in between the roots of a monstrously big tree, seeing as this certain safe house was underground.

Gazing around the area one last time to check if anyone was watching them Claire opened the hidden door and let both Serah and Darla inside before stepping inside herself. The inside of the underground cavern was huge in every meaning of the word, its walls were reinforced with metal and it had tunnels going off in every direction, creating a massive tunnel system that the humans used to keep themselves safe from Valahllans.

Stepping away from the entrance Claire finally felt her mother let go of her hand, she'd been holding it the entire walk here. Claire sighed quietly to herself, perhaps she shouldn't even of told her not to let today get to her get to her, she just seemed so sad now.

Claire scratched the back of her head, maybe she should find her dad, and he seemed to always know how to cheer her mum up, though she had a feeling that today would be a little hard. It was the 17th anniversary of her aunt's disappearance, a day that always seemed to bring her parents and their close friends down.

Claire couldn't really compare, she'd never known the women. All she really knew about her was that she'd disappeared about two years before she was born. Though she had been told quite a lot of sister complex jokes over the years, no one really talked about her, it was a subject that always seemed to bring them all down.

Stepping forward, Claire began to make her slow way through the crowd of people that engulfed the large chamber, beginning towards one of the many tunnels in search of her father. She didn't know if she was just lucky or it was the biggest fluke in the world, but didn't take her that long to find him.

He was in a room off to the left of one of the tunnels talking to an old man, who she quickly recognised to be one of his friend's Sazh. A small smile snuck its way onto her lips, she hadn't seen the man in a while, so it was nice to see him after so long.

For his age the man didn't look too bad but his hair was just about all grey now, though that kind of happens when your 58.

Making her presence known, she walked up to the two of them and said hello, but before she could tell Snow about Serah he beat her to it by saying "Serah not doing too well today?"

Claire froze with the words half way to her lips, before changing what she had intended to say "You know I'm beginning to think you and mum have a physic connection or something"

Snow shrugged off the comment while Sazh wholeheartedly agreed with her "You know what they probably do" he said with a laugh.

Walking a little closer to her Snow asked "Where is she right now?"

"Um" Claire hummed softly "by the door last time I knew, she's kinda scaring me right now though" she told him.

Snow sighed "Not doing so well then eh"

Claire shook her head as an answer.

"Just asking, but where have you been today?" Snow piped up suddenly.

"Ahhh, outside" Claire answered tentatively.

Translation, I just nearly got killed by Valhallans… again.

Snow pinched the bridge of his nose "You really need to learn to keep out of trouble, seriously"

"Hey don't look at me; mum and Darla were with me to!" she sprouted defensively.

Sazh gave an outright laugh from behind them "You know I think that just makes it worst Claire"

Realising too late her mistake Claire told him while scratching her chin "Ah, you probably have a point there Sazh"

Trying to hold in a laugh Snow walked passed Claire and patted her on the shoulder "Your hopeless sometimes Claire"

"Not my fault if I'm living Valhallan magnet"

Failing to hold in the laugh that dearly wanted out, Snow said between chuckles "Guess so but you could still try to be a little more careful"

Pouting at her father as he pasted her she asked "so you're going to find mum now right?"

"Course" he answered her as he walked out the door, leaving her and Sazh alone the room. Looking up at Sazh she smiled at him.

"Haven't seen you in a while have I"

"I could say the same thing about you" he said walking up to her. Upon reaching her Sazh was hit with realisation that she was taller than him.

"Wow" he remarked "you've certainly got your fathers height, you're already taller than me at 15"

"That what everyone keeps telling me, it's getting rather irritating"

"Ah, than I think I might just keep telling you than" he joked.

"Oh please don't, Ereka and Joshy already do all the time, they've got mums height" she complained.

Sazh laughed before saying "Speaking of which, how are those two siblings of yours?"

"Let's think, well their still being the perfectly cliché annoying siblings just annoy me, so I'm gonna say fine" Claire answered him casually.

"Has Joshua able to beat you in a fight yet?"

"Not even close, he keeps on saying that he's ashamed of getting beat by a girl and not even taking into consideration that he's four years younger than me"

"That might be the smarter thing to do" and in a quieter tone Sazh added "but can't count on all of Snow's children to be Smart like you and your sister" he said putting emphasis on Snow.

Claire laughed at that, Sazh always joked about thing like this with her when she got to see him. In Sazh's own opinion, the girl had spent maybe just a little bit too much time with Hope, knowing all too well his opinion on Snow's IQ.

When her laughing stopped he found himself saying "You're so much like your aunt you know"

She looked at him odd then, not really knowing how to respond to it or where it came from, so she decided just to say "Is that a compliment or not?"

He laughed at that saying "Yes and no I guess, it's easily one of the reasons you keep on evading Valhallans so easily"

"How so?" she inquired.

"Well for one you fight amazingly just like her, that woman just belonged on the battlefield"

Letting their conversation come to a brief pause, Claire bit down on her lip, unsure of how to voice what she wanted to " Sazh can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Umm" hesitating for a second, she tilted her head to look him in the eyes "What was she like, mum and dad, they don't really talk about her"

Stopping in his movements completely, Sazh tried to think of the best way to answer that question. He knew all too well that Serah had been devastated when Light had disappeared, so it never surprised him that much that she didn't speak of her anymore.

Looking up to the roof of the room, he hummed softly "What can I say really, she was kind if you ever managed to get through that damn tough façade she always kept up and trust me I mean always" he paused for a second then went on to say "truthfully she was not the person she seemed to be, only the people close to her really knew who she was"

"She was really protective of mum wasn't she" Claire said, not as a question but more of a statement of fact.

"That she was" Sazh murmured "probably one of the only people you'll ever meet who would risk being killed by PSICOM to save an already L'cie sister"

Claire smiled a sad smile when he mentioned this; she had a lot to thank for from a person she'd never even met before, if things had been any different back then there was always the chance that she would of never been born.

"I've been told about that before but never from mum you know, she just never mentions Lightning"

Sazh nodded understandingly "she never really got over it"

The room went quiet afterwards, no one saying anything further. Claire understood all too well how hurt her mother had been by her sister's disappearance, her suffering didn't surprise her at all. As she knew as clear as day that today was the anniversary of her aunt's disappearance and that yesterday had been her mother's wedding anniversary.

...:...

When Snow reached the door he found that Serah had already left the immediate area, which wasn't much of a surprise considering no one really liked staying near the doors that led out of this place, not even the guards that were stationed around it.

Searching around the room, he came up with nothing so he decided to search the tunnels for her.

Contrary to Claire finding him fast, it was the exact opposite for him finding Serah, it took him about half and an hour to locate her.

She was in a room, sitting high above the ground on a ledge that stuck out from the wall looking out a small hole, one of many that let air in to the tunnel systems.

Serah didn't seem to notice Snow's existence in the room until he'd climbed up the semi rocky wall, an achievement for someone his size, and sat right next to her.

"Hey" he greeted her barely above a whisper.

Jumping a bit when he spoke up she turned to him and shakily returned his greetings "Hi, Snow" she stopped for a second then said "Claire send you after me?"

"Yeah she did"

Serah nodded "I think I scared her a bit back there"

"That so" he said knowing full that Claire had already confirmed this for him.

They both sat there sat there looking out the hole to the sky beyond for a while before Serah spoke up "Don't you wish you could just look at the sky and not fear of being attacked?"

"Yeah, it would be nice after so long"

Changing the subject suddenly she said "I wish she was here with me"

"Light?" Snow asked her.

"Yeah"

Reaching over and taking hold of her hand, Snow squeezed it gently "We all miss her Serah"

He could see that tears rimmed her eyes as she fought to keep them from falling. Letting go of her hand he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. Losing her futile fight with her tears whilst in his embrace Serah began to cry profusely into his chest.

They sat there in silence for a while, Snow quietly offering words of comfort.

Still crying Serah managed to get out "I don't want her memory to be a sad one but every time I think about her I'm always reminded that she's not here anymore and I can't help but find myself crying"

"Shhh" he whispered holding her close "I understand, I know it hurts but you can't let her disappearance be the only thing you think about when you think about her, there's was so much more to her then just that."

He felt her nod, though he doubted she'd really taken in the words.

With Serah still crying into his chest Snow sighed and looked back through the hole above them, there wasn't much to see other than the sky through which he could do no more than tell it was the afternoon. As he held Serah's crying form firmly in his arms he was struck with the thought.

Lightning what happened to you?

...:...

A statuesque black haired girl moved through the halls of Etro's temple as silent as shadow with a certain destination in mind. She moved gracefully, contrary to the fact that she barely knew where she was going.

It was soon that she reached her destination, a throne room, or at least she thought of it as a throne room she was never quite sure what it was. Stepping into the room she saw that she wasn't alone, a woman sat cross legged in front of a throne that looked like it had been made of ice.

Walking towards her slowly she spoke up.

"Okar" when she'd been told to speak English she had made a stand about keeping that word of the ancient language in use and no one had spoken against it.

Hearing the word, the woman across from her slowing rose to her feet and turned to face the girl, her face was hidden from view by a piece of fabric that was pulled over her face up to her nose and a hood of a cloak that was brought over the right side of her face, leaving only her bizarrely purple left eye to be seen.

"Aaia Yuto" a strange voice spoke and through only one person had talked you could hear the voice of two.

Aaia Yuto smiled and walked closer to the woman, embracing her around the middle. The woman twitched a bit at the contact but didn't push the younger girl away, instead she lifted a hand and placed it on her back, not returning the hug but not ignoring it either.

"Okar" Aaia Yuto spoke again "I'll miss you"

"I, I'll miss you to" the strange double voice stuttered, not as if she was shy but more like she was shy of actually talking.

Pulling away from the hug Aaia Yuto walked past the woman and closer to the throne "Time to go right"

Behind her the woman nodded and walked closer to the young girl, handing her a necklace she took off from around own neck.

"It's safer for you there then it is in this world"

Aaia Yuto nodded and took the necklace off the woman and put it around her own neck. She breathed out slowly and whispered a quick goodbye, the woman doing the same as she raised her hand and a portal appeared before them. With one last look at the woman behind her Aaia Yuto walked towards the portal and stepped into it.

Before it engulfed her completely she heard the woman say "Protect them."

Aaia Yuto wouldn't have needed to ask who, she already knew.

In the now silent room the woman stood alone staring up at the throne which had once belonged to Etro, though it had been a long time now since she even sat there. In the silence she whispered one word, knowing that it would be a long time till she would ever speak again.

"Serah"

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><p>One thing Serah+Darla= nice old women but Claire+Darla= evil demon from hell, translation Darla loathes Claire and vice versa.<p>

Not quite sure why I said that kinda just felt like it.

The odd thing about the start of this story is that when I first started writing it serah was alone and outside, well that lasted like what, a sentense.

So thats the first chapter for you, if you liked it would you please be kind and give me a review.


	2. The power of the Valhallans

_And finally here is chapter two, sorry it took me a while to get out but the third chapter of my story Sweet,sweet ignorance was really hard for me to write, it somehow made itself 11,000 words long (I don't know how that even happened, I was originally planning for it to be less than half that. The start of this chapter was also hard for me to write though it didn't even compare to SSI, I was just have trouble writing hope._

_I'm currently in the mood to rant so this authors note will probably be quiet long but you don't have to read it if you don't want to._

_Firstly I was being pissy yesterday for a very stupid reason, you see I had gotten my hair trimmed the day before and I decided to get my hair styled a bit, so I gave my self a side fringe. I loved the side fringe, it was just how I wanted it, the only way it could have been better was if it mimiced lightning but I don't really have the hair for that. But than I woke up the next day and it had died, even though I hadn't even toss around like I ususally do and I only managed to half fix it. But now I've decided I was just being an idiot, so who gives a shit._

_Also my laptop is now dead (I'm using my parents right now) every time I turn it on it freezes and neither me or my brother can figure out how to fix it, so I hate it right now._

_My god that turned out long didn't it._

_I also want to thank the people who reviewed, I love it when I get them off people it makes happy to know I have people reading and enjoying what I write._

_But on with the story, I hope you enjoy this chapter._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does**

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><p><strong>The power of the Valhallans<strong>

Hope woke up with a start, lurching himself into a sitting position.

"Damn it" he whispered to himself.

Lying back down on the bed he covered his face with his hand and breathed out a sigh. Why did that dream have to haunt like this? Why did he have to be reminded of what happened? Why couldn't his mind just let the past stay in the past and forget about it?

But that was it; his mind just wouldn't let that happen.

Breathing out another sigh he rose into a sitting position again and pressed his hands to face, he wasn't too sure if he'd be getting anymore sleep tonight after that damn dream. Staring around the room quickly, he found that he was alone. Shrugging he decided that he'd go outside and see if anyone was about. Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, Hope stood up and threw on a shirt before heading out the door.

Checking around the hallway he found that yet again it was void of people. This piqued his curiosity; this placed usually always had someone out and about whatever the time. Moving through the halls of the building hope was met with the same results everywhere he went. Growing tired of not finding anyone, Hope had a sudden feeling that he should go check the balconies upstairs.

Upon climbing the stair to the level above Hope found himself yet again alone, the situation now began to creep him out, it was like he was snuck in some scary dream where he was the only one in it. Through of course he knew that wasn't happening, he just woke up, didn't he?

Hope blew out a sigh of relief when he came across another person sitting cross legged on the balcony, "Finally" he said.

Jumping a bit at the sudden noise, the person, a girl, quickly turned to him, "Oh Hope, didn't see you there" she said running one of her hands through her shoulder length curly black hair.

"Oh and what was finally for?" she asked him as he sat next to her.

"Um, kind of 'cause I've gone all around here and you're the first person I've run into, I mean isn't this supposed to be a military base or something"

"That's what I was thinking but I suppose that everyone must just be haggard from all those prevented break-in's today, those Valhallans just don't quit do they?"

Hope nodded his head at the girl "yeah"

Placing a finger on her lips, she asked quietly "A bit off topic but has your mind been telling you that you were still dreaming"

"Um yeah, why?"

"Good that means I'm not insane."

"But what if I'm insane?"

"Damn it! Then I'm still insane." pausing for a second she started stroking her chin thoughtfully "Through mind my has also been telling me that there's a phantom stalking me, waiting until he has the chance to kill me, it just keeps saying "he's going to kill you Savina, he's going to kill you", so maybe I am actually insane."

"You need help."

"I realised."

Casting a look about the empty hallways Hope asked out of curiosity.

"Um isn't it a bit dangerous to have so little people around here? What about sentries?"

"Oh there are sentries about, I'm actually supposed to be one of them, someone woke me up a while ago and told me to come up here a keep a look out, poor guy looked like he was about to fall asleep right there."

"Hm."

"Bit off topic, but did you fall asleep in your jeans again?"

Hope shot a quick look down at the garment in question, "Yeah kinda."

"I thought I told you not to do that, it's bad for your circulation"

He shrugged at her.

She gave a slight tilt of her head, knowing that scolding him wouldn't really have an effect anyway before asking, "What you doing up anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep." Hope answered her.

"How come?"

"Why do I have to answer that?" he asked

"Cuz I asked it that's why"

Hope pinched his nose "If I don't answer you now you'll stalk me for days asking this won't you?"

"Same rules as always pretty boy"

"Stop calling me that Savina"

"You know I'll never do that" Savina said with a laugh in her voice "But you gonna answer me or what?"

Scratching the back of his head he answered a little absentmindedly "Is 'my mind' a good enough answer?"

Savina turned serious then "The same old dreams then?"

Hope didn't answer her but Savina knew him well enough to know she was right.

"Haa," she breathed out "And you say I need help, how long have you been having those dreams anyway?"

Hope shrugged at her question not bothering to answer it.

Savina gave a sudden twitch and dropping her conversation with Hope, she ran to the edge of the balcony. Quiet suddenly she said "There are people out there"

Getting up off the floor Hope walked to her side and peered ahead of them into the land beyond the base, wondering how on earth she'd picked that up with her back turned to the balcony, "Where?"

Squinting her eyes Savina peered into the forest beyond the base. Biting her lip she mumbled "Damn it!"

"What?" Hope questioned.

"Lost em." She answered.

Peering once again into the forest Savina tried her hardest to relocate them, succeeding she yelled out.

"Hope they're Valhallans, sound the alarm!"

He nodded to her as she rushed down the hall, "What are you doing! "He yelled over to her.

"Warning the people on the battlements that's what!" She yelled back before he lost sight of her.

Sighing Hope whispered to himself "Here we go again," silently wishing he was wearing something better then jeans and a singlet.

**...:...**

With the alarm sounding the soldiers were roused from their sleep and armed to protect the base. Valhallan sightings like this were common and the soldiers were well equipped to face them but with multiple sightings and attempted break-in already today, the soldiers were drained and not at their sharpest. This was something that could prove quickly fatal with Valhallans as your enemy.

Hope if anything was worst off then majority of the soldiers, having what little sleep he did get haunted by nightmares. Though the sentries would probably be worst; most hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

Peering over the battlements he now stood behind instinct told him to duck, and as he's knees hit the walkway an arrow whizzed over his head. Despite the fact that the arrow could have easily pierced his head it brought with it the knowledge that the Valhallans were using simpler weapons, meaning that they hadn't stolen any guns. Which was good in a way but with their deadly aim and even deadlier magic it wasn't much of an upper hand.

Without getting up, Hope raised his head high enough to see over the battlements, he wasn't risking getting shot in the head again. Lifting his gun up so that it was level with the battlements, he began to aim for the Valhallans he knew to be below. He was unlucky in his shots; through some barely missed the Valhallans none actually hit their targets.

He heard movement beside him, the sound of someone sitting down with the sound of a familiar voice soon following.

"Hey Hope, how you holding up over here?"

Savina, of course, the only person dumb enough to hunt him down while they were being shot at. Or perhaps insane, her IQ was a little too high for her to be called dumb. But ignoring the insanity of her actions he answered her.

"Alright I guess but I don't seem to actually be able to land a hit on anything" He said it with annoyance clear in his voice.

She made an "Hm" sound as she to lifted her gun to shoot at the enemy "If you let that get to you, you'll never land a hit" she pulled the trigger back and bullets whizzed through the air. Her was aim perfect, all her bullets found home in the skins of the Valhallans. Lowering her gun Savina pumped her fist "Yes, bullseye!"

Hope stared ahead in disbelief before slowly shaking his head and uttering "Of course, it's the women who got even less sleep then me that gets the inhumanly accurate bullseyes"

Savina shrugged "What can I say, I've been a natural with aim ever since I was strong enough to throw things a distance that mattered any, plus your probably still distracted by that delightful dream of yours"

She got him there.

"Probably have a point there"

"That I do, now come on pretty boy don't let yourself get distracted there are still Valhallans out there"

Hope blew out a sigh and aimed his gun again "When will you stop calling me that?"

"When hell freezes over"

"How'd I guess?"

Pulling the trigger he shot his gun again, this time with some of his shots actually hitting their target, even if only one was anywhere near fatal.

"That's better, see keep calm and you'll be more accurate" Savina whispered beside him.

After the shot off a few more rounds, there was a lull in the battle, and after a moment or so the sound of a bell like alarm rang through the air.

Both Hope and Savina tensed up the moment the sound hit their stood up despite the danger of being shot her eyes locked on the forest in front of them. Fear was imbedded in her next words "Oh crap, that alarms only used for-"

She didn't get the chance to finish her next words as only second after she'd began talking an unearthly roar tore through the air. "Manavlisk." she uttered in fear.

As if called by her words a colossal wolf like creature burst forth from the trees, loose chains hanging from its neck. Its build resembled that of a behemoth, with its fur painted colours of dark and light greys.

Over the sound of the still sounding alarm Hope and Savina heard a soldier yell "Pull back, Manavlisk coming this way!"

Savina ran off instantly, speeding across the walkway and down the stairs, coming to a less than graceful stop by the door to the bases main building.

Hope watched her curiously from the walkway, sure she wasn't the only person here who'd reacted that way but he'd never pegged her to be someone who would just run away like that. What was more, in all the time he'd known Savina; he's never seen her so scared. Hope's head swerved back towards the forest as more beastly roars filled the sky, he saw more Manavlisk tear their way through the trees and charge toward the base. At this sight he was met with the dark realisation that this base was lost, even with the Valhallans decimated, no one could stop that many Manavlisk; they would have been in trouble with just one to deal with.

Turning back to face the walkway he followed Savina's lead and ran to the stairs, his only chance at surviving tonight was getting as far away from here as possible. Meeting a petrified Savina at the main building's door Hope came to stand beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder he tried calm her down.

"Savina come on we need to get away from here" She didn't move at his words, she just kept on staring at the tall walls that surrounded the base, knowing full well that the Manavlisks could plough through them any minute.

Tightening his grip on her shoulder he told her gently "Savina if you let your thoughts get to you you'll never survive this" He wasn't too sure why he said it but he had a feeling that repeating her own words of not letting thoughts get to you who help her some.

Through it didn't calm her down all that much it did have some kind of effect.

Savina turned to face him and nodded her head, acknowledging the first thing he'd said to her about getting away from here. Hope grabbed her hand and nodded his head as well, while pushing the door open and going inside. They found themselves in an entrance hall, a large room with countless doors and hallway twisting off from the room its self. Pulling the silent Savina along beside him Hope began on a path to one of the hallways furthest from the front door.

Upon reaching it he pulled Savina closer to him and whispered in her ear "I'm taking us to one of the basements, we should be able to hide in there"

Savina offered a nod of her head and nothing more.

Her current state worried Hope, he'd never seen her like this, even in battle she'd never been in this dark of a mood, or scared for that matter.

After walking through the many twisting and turning hallways the building housed for a time, Hope came to a stop in front of a small door; walking up to it he twisted the knob, pushed the door inwards and stepped into a diminutive and dreadfully bare room. Kneeling on the floor he grabbed a small mat that covered a portion of the floor and pushed it aside. On the floor where the mat had been was a rectangle piece of wood that had been disguised as floor. Picking that up and putting it to the side much like he done with the mat, Hope exposed a stair case hidden beneath. The stair case was made from stone and led into a dark room also made of stone.

Twisting around a bit Hope held his hand out to Savina "Here, you come down first"

Grabbing his hand without a sound, she let him lead her to the hole in the floor and help her to step onto the stairs. When she was down them, Hope got up and went back the door. Looking around outside, he surmised that there was no one around so he closed the door and stepped back into the room. Kneeing back onto the floor Hope slid into the hole and grabbing both the mat and the wooden plank and replaced one on top of the other.

Carefully he slid the wooden plank back over the hole and hoped that the mat hadn't of slipped off, through it probably had some. Walking down the stairs he met Savina at the bottom of them sitting on the cold floor, she had her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms folded across her legs. Sitting down beside her he cast his eyes about the basement.

The basements of the main building use to be all connected but they had later been made into separate rooms and walls placed between them. He'd never known why they had decided to separate them all but that didn't bother him now; all he cared about was that it now gave him only a 1 in 10 chance of being found if an enemy found the basements.

Turning back to Savina, Hope placed a hand on her shoulder like he'd done outside.

"Hey Savina, what's wrong?" he asked quietly.

She didn't answer straight away, instead she opted to finger strands of her hair for a time before slowly raising her head to meet Hope gaze.

"I'm scared"

"Of what?" Of death was the obvious answer.

Hesitantly she answered "Of the Manavlisks"

He'd noticed. But ignoring the thought he asked "Why?"

Savina went silent again at that question, shaking her head to indicate that she didn't want to answer. Hope through wasn't going to let her get away without answering him, she'd done so to him one too many times for him to let her get away with that.

So he asked her again "Why are you scared of them Savina?"

She bit her lip and gave a seemingly misplaced laugh "This is my punishment for never letting you get away with not answering me isn't?"

"Of course." Hope answered her, he tried as best as he could to keep his voice light despite there current situation because he knew if she saw his fear then he'd never get her out of this rut.

She offered him a small smile but he knew she was still scared.

"It's not good things I have to say"

"So were some of my secrets." He retorted.

"Guess so." she replied weakly.

There was a silence that passed them for a few seconds before she answered "They killed my family"

"What?"

"The Manavlisks, one killed my family when I was four, I saw it happen too" She stopped for a second and lifted her gaze to stare at the ceiling, when she spoke again it was in an even smaller voice with tears forming at the rims of her eyes "I should have died that day, I have no idea how I didn't, I stared that damn thing right in the face and it just left me there, in a fucking corpse filled grove!"

As the tears began falling down her face she brushed them off with her hand and shook her head "I saw it all happen; I saw the damn thing tear my family apart!" she finished before breaking into tears.

Slightly taken aback by the sudden ferocity of her words, Hope hesitantly reached out a hand and putting it about Savina's shoulders. He wasn't too sure what to do to comfort the girl so he offered a simple "Hey it's okay" He hadn't expected that she'd tell him all that, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't have suspicions that she'd had an encounter with a Manavlisk when she had bolted at the sight of them but what she told him was downright ghastly.

In the minutes it took to calm the girl down, Hope kept his ears open for sounds upstairs. With that many Manavlisk's out there they could have easily broken through the walls, letting what remained of the Valhallans through. And everyone with a brain knew that even though they could be easy enough to take out in long range situations, it was suicide to verse a Valhallan in close range.

As the minute ticked by there was no sound from upstairs, the only thing to be heard all around Hope was the sound of his and Savina's breathing along with her occasional sniffle. Getting up, Hope walked to the opposite side of the room to the stair case and sat down.

Savina jumped up at this action, still shaky she asked "W…what are you doing?"

Hope shrugged "Keeping away from the stairs, this way I can see if any ones trying to get in better then when I have my back to it anyway"

Savina twisted her head to look at the stairs "You'd probably hear them better from here"

"Yes but they'd see me straight away"

"Hm, guess so" Savina said walking up to sit next to Hope. Leaning her back against the stone wall Savina produced a great yawn and stretched her arms.

Hope chuckled a little at her when she did "Tired much?"

"What? I haven't gotten much sleep tonight"

"Hm, realised, why don't you try to get some sleep then, I'll keep watch"

Savina smiled at him "Thanks it'll be appreciated"

Giving another yawn she lied down on the cold floor and tried to make herself more comfortable, before she closed her eyes she told Hope "Wake me up later and I can take over for you"

"Kay" Hope answered her.

In minutes the sound of her breathing softened, signifying that she'd fallen asleep. Trying to make his back more comfortable against the wall Hope settled himself in for a long night.

**...:...**

The sounds of gruff voices woke Hope from the daze he'd found himself in. Reaching a hand out he tapped Savina on the shoulder to wake her up. The girl twitched awake at the contact and Hope placed a finger on his lip to tell her not to talk. Very quietly he whispered "I hear voices at the top of the stairs"

"Are they Valhallans?" Savina whispered equally as quiet.

"I think so, they don't seem to be speaking in English" he replied to her.

She nodded her head and went quiet to try and listen in on the voices. "They're not in here yet, they must still be in the room above us" Savina said "And that certainly isn't English"

Hope nodded at her as the people above them found the hidden stairs.

Savina muttered a quiet "Shit" under her breath, in this basement there wasn't many places you could hide as the room was a simple rectangle. The only place you could conceal yourself in was in plain sight and in the darkness. But none of that would ever save you a Valhallan.

The tallest of the Valhallans laughed to himself when he caught sight of Hope and Savina at the opposite end of the room. In his native language he remarked to the two Valhallans to the side of him "Uuta, lyza niks rueza husko, ai antasha travano nas ken vu dincru chazoro"

The two to the side of him laughed but the sounds weren't anything humorous, they held an evil tone; at hearing those sounds and Hope and Savina knew that they were in big trouble, if the sight of three muscle-bound Valhallans hadn't already told them that. Almost too quick for the eyes to see one of the ones who stood to the side of the tallest ran forward towards them.

Dodging to either side as the Valhallans right hand swang forward in an attempt to catch hold of Savina, both Hope and Savina tripped up and barely missed slamming into the hard stone walls. As they jumped up once more as a second Valhallans joined the fro, they began a game of dodging the brutal hits the two Valhallans were continuously throwing their way. But of course in a small dark room like the one they currently occupied, the Valhallans would always have the upper hand with their superior strength and better sight, so it was unavoidable that they would slip up sometime.

A shrill scream filled the air as one of the brutes latched on to Savina and picked her up by the collar. The scream was enough distraction for one the second Valhallan to pin Hope to the wall.

With them both pinned and unable to fight back the tallest of the three laughed maliciously and spoke through his laughter to speak yet again in his native tongue "Ai antasha travano nas ai chazoro, ita asimdar vu yue, tulan don bi fortarla" He shook his head at both Hope and Savina as if he was some ashamed parent, the action causing the two others in the room to laugh.

Hope found himself irritated, he didn't know what the man was saying but language barrier or not he knew when he was being made fun of.

Twisting his head to look back at the man pinning him to the wall he found him still trying to contain his laughter. Taking advantage of the situation he mustered all the strength he could to pull his arms free of the man's hold and smash him on the side the head. With the man dazed, Hope grabbed hold of his arms and swang him into the stone wall he had just been pinned to. The Valhallan hit the wall hard and was successively knocked unconscious.

Turning to look over at Savina, Hope saw that she too had taken the advantage of her capture being distracted to also escape from his grasp and knock him unconscious. Smirking over to her she returned the action and they both turned to face the last of the Valhallans.

They hadn't gotten they high ranks in the military for nothing and the two men now knocked out behind them had just learned that the hard way.

Now staring at the last one Valhallan Hope was struck with confusion, instead of moving towards them he instead chose to stay where he was at the bottom of the stairs. his confusion grew as the man continued to stay in his spot and make no attempt to hurt them. Hope thought he may just be trying to mess with them so he could take them by surprise but there was something about that that seemed wrong.

Though the man that stood before them wasn't nearly as muscle-bound as the two now unconscious men, he exuded ingenuity, a feeling that seemed like he was not one to mess with. That even if you were stronger than him he'd still be able to beat you with skill alone. And Hope was sure the man in front of him had more of both skill and strength than him and Savina had put together.

But the man didn't make a move, he just stood there.

"Hope," Savina said evenly beside him.

"Yes?"

"Look at his arm" She pointed to the limb in question.

Looking at his arm Hope then saw that he was clutching it as if it was causing him pain. He hadn't noticed it when he'd been trying to figure out why the man wasn't attacking but now looking closer he saw that there was a long brand trailing across his left arm, slowing turning more and more red. It looked extremely painful and the way he was clutching his arm only reinforced that theory but none of that pain reached his face.

Hope looked at the brand again shivered, refraining from reaching over and touching his own wrist.

"He looked like he's in pain, what do you think's wrong with him, he's not attacking us." Savina whispered alongside him.

"Don't know." Hope replied.

At his words the Valhallan fell to his knees and lost the fight with his pain and his face screwed up in agony.

"Go" he urged them "Go before I lose control again" As he finished he pointed up to the top of the stairs signalling them to go up.

Despite the state of the man in front of them and the two unconscious men behind them who had to wake up sometime, Savina was a little unsure of going back up to the main building when there could still be Valhallans and manavlisks. Though anything would be better than staying here, or smarter.

But just in case she asked "You sure, what about all the Valhallans and manavlisks"

The man nodded and somehow got out over his agony "Most of us were killed by your guns at the start, there are only ten manavlisk's here you don't much chance of running into one but if I was you I'd get out of this place and hide in the forest"

Hope nodded to him and grabbed the somehow still unsure Savina along with him to the top of the stairs.

Before they'd left the small room above they heard he man at the bottom of the stairs give out one last warning "If you value your life avoid the blonde haired girl, with her you'll meet your death" He conveyed the eerie message before falling silent, presumably even falling unconscious from the pain.

Savina stared back at the hole from the doorway of the room, quietly she whispered to herself "The blonde haired girl?" she was curious as to who in the world the man had been referring to.

"Savina come on" Hope called from out in the hall way.

Savina swallowed over a lump in her throat, she wouldn't admit it but the man's message had shaken her more then she'd admit.

Walking through the door to joint hope in the hallway they both set out to get out of the building and into the forest.

...:...

Hours after the attack on the base had begun; Hope and Savina sat in a small grove in the forest leaning against two trees.

Savina had fallen asleep a few hours back but Hope found that tonight he just couldn't make himself follow suit. He was mostly just being paranoid but his mind kept on telling him that if he fell asleep an enemy would find them, though hours of undisturbed peace said differently.

He wondered if now would be a good time to check if the base was free of Valhallans. Though he doubted if there'd even be much of a base left after that attack, that Valhallan had said that they had had ten manavlisk with them and one would have been enough to tear the base apart to a degree, ten was just overkill.

His mind made up he reached out a hand and shook Savina awake "Hey," he said "Savina, I want to go check if the Valhallans have left the base yet"

Opening her eyes Savina groggily wiped sleep from her eyes" You sure" she asked.

"Yeah, it's been about eight hours since they attacked, it's around seven thirty now"

Savina bit her lip in uncertainty before nodded her head and saying "Yeah I guess it's fine to go check now"

Sitting up they both left the grove and started their walk towards the base. When they arrived what met their eyes was a sight that left them gawking

He had doubted if there would be much of a base left he'd meant it, but he would of never expected this. The only way to describe what they were both looking at now was a pile of scrap metal. He'd underestimated the destructive power of a manavlisk.

The entire base was destroyed, not one structure still stood, it made him scared to think that if they'd stayed they could have been crush under all this. It also made him wonder how many actually had.

Walking forward hesitantly Hope and Savina looked about for survivors and kept their eyes open for any Valhallans still in the area. It took them awhile but they did find some people, they were camped out in the shadow of some of the wrecked buildings. They found others scattered around the destroyed base too, some injured, some not. But as with every break-in, there found people who weren't as lucky as they were to survive, a lot of people. In the days to come after this attack, Hope and Savina they would come to find out a more accurate count of how many soldiers had actually died.

That out of the 5000 soldiers that were stationed here by the end of one day, was reduced to just 267.

* * *

><p><em>And thats the chapter for you.<em>

_Theres a few things I want to say about the story before a go though. Firstly, the actually events of XIII are untouched, its what happened after them that I screwed over and lightning disappeared a year after the fall of cocoon._

_And if anyones wondering, I'm not going to translate the Valhallan language, there's actually a lot of things said in it that would spoil things_

_And to everyone who read the authors note at the top, for what I said about obsessing over my fringe, I want to make sure that you don't peg me as someone who obssessed with their hair and always wants it to be perfect, the only part of my hair I'm an actually obssessed with is it's legth (It goes all the way down my back and I love long hair.)_

_I was just being incredibly stupid._

_And lastly this may not be undated for a time because I'm goin to start playing FFXIII-2 again (I haven't played it in weeks, writing was somehow miraculously distracting me from it) and I'm going to go insane collecting fragments before I finish the game so I can have as much completed as I possibly can. And even when I'm done playing that I still have to finish the next chapters of my two others stories so this will go untouched for the next couple of weeks._

_So bye for now and please review, I'll give you virtually candy if you do._


	3. Lights in the sky

Ohayo everyone, here we are with the third chapter.

truth be told but i don't really like this chapter, it was hard to write and i don't really don't think its up to standard.

i don't think my beta reader likes it that much either, but when you spend a week writing and continously fixing it up, you get tired of it.

hopefully the next one will be better.

but other than that, and on a more cherrful note i'm going to tell you just how much my brother is willing to humiliate himself (translation, i'm to tell you what he's wearing for supanova, which for people who don't know what it is ,its a convention in Australia)

the first day, since we're going for two days, is a soviet uniform with a gasmask, but that oviously, is not the humiliating one.

for the second day, and i'm not making this up, he's really going to do this, he's going to wear aforementioned gasmask with my sister blue wig, and my lolita dress (yes, my brother is going to cross at nova, in the middle of hundreds of people, wearing a dress that clearly shows his extremely hairly legs)

but you know what the funny thing is.

that will be the third time he's crossdressed (he's not gay or anything just so you know, just an extremely big idiot not beyond completely humiliating himself)

**Disclaimer: i do not own ffxiii**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Lights in the sky<strong>_

Still half asleep in her bed, Serah woke up to the sound of footsteps sounding off near her bedroom. Muffled noises of people talking soon followed them, but from where she was and the state of her half asleep mind, the content of the conversation was lost on her. Rolling over so that her back faced the door she tried to fall back asleep, she was too tired right now to care about other people's conversations. But her attempt at sleeping was cut short when one of the people outside of her door opened it and shook her awake, fully rousing her from her sleep.

"Mum, mum, wake up! Sazh says he needs to talk to you."

"Mhmm, what?" Serah questioned, not willing to wake up while she was still so tired.

"I said Sazh needs to talk to you." Pulling the covers from the bed, the offender stated in a voice stronger than before, "and NOW, he said it's urgent."

It took all of two seconds to realise that the girl currently holding her bed cover away from her was Claire, the only one of her children brave enough to steal their own mother's doona while she was still sleeping.

'Wish she wasn't, I still want to sleep,' Serah thought grudgingly while getting up from the bed. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she rubbed sleep from her eyes and stared up at the girl now leaning her back against the wall at the head of the bed.

"Do you know why he wants to talk to me exactly?"

Claire shook her head answering, "No, someone just pulled me up just then and told me, so my guess is as good as yours."

Rubbing the last of the sleep out of her eyes, Serah stood up from the bed and walked to the far side of the room opposite to the door and pulled on some more decent clothes than the nightie she currently wore. Walking back over to Claire she resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep and told her, "Guess I better go and see what he wants, then."

Serah walked through the open door with Claire following close behind. Turning to face her daughter she questioned, "Do you know where Sazh is by any chance?"

Claire nodded and told her almost hesitantly, "Last I heard, he was in the military's planning room."

Serah bit her lip at those words, understanding her daughter's hesitation. Any urgent news that came from any military controlled quarters was never good news.

Ending their conversation they began to move though the safe house's cold earthen halls towards the military quarters, where they would find the planning room and Sazh along with it. After a while of weaving through the countless halls and passageways, the two of them came across a large and obviously locked metal door. Serah walked up to it and pounded on the surface of the door, stepping back to await a response from the other side. The response was the sound someone's voice floating through the door and asking, "Who is it?"

"It's Serah Farron, I'm looking for Sazh Katzroy. I was told he was here" Serah answered the person clearly. The sound of murmuring could be heard from the other side of the door before the metal monstrosity was opened and both girls were let inside.

The soldier inside nodded to them quickly and said, "He's in the planning room."

Serah gave him a quick nod in return, despite the fact that he was only reaffirming information they'd already known. Continuing on through the military quarters Serah and Claire headed along a known path towards the planning room. It didn't take them long to find the large rectangular shaped room and step inside.

Serah was greeting with the usual sight of bookshelves upon bookshelves covering the walls and the decently-sized, long table in the centre of the room. Surrounding the long table were a number of men and a handful of women, looking over what Serah guessed to be battle plans. Stepping closer to the room's middle they were quickly spotted by Sazh, who in turn strode over to them looking awfully worried. Walking forward to meet him, Serah raised the question, "Why did you want to see me right now Sazh? I was sleeping when Claire woke me up."

Sazh himself didn't seem all that affected by her previous statement, if not a little sorry that it had been Claire she was woken by.

"Sorry 'bout that, but this news was a little more urgent."

"And what is that now?"

"We've just received news that the military base over at Yaschas Massif has been devastated by an attack from Valhallans. The runner who delivered us this news told us that they think the number of people still alive numbers only in the low hundreds," he told her solemnly.

After a brief paused Serah quickly gasped in shock. "But Sazh, Hope was stationed at Yaschas Massif."

Sazh nodded to this with a sad look on his face and, trying to calm Serah down, said, "I know, I know, but we don't have many details of the attack or its aftermath, so we can't be too sure if anything bad has happened to him just yet," he said, dodging one particular word, "so you need to keep faith that he's okay."

Serah nodded gloomily. "Yeah"

This hadn't been good news at all! Sure it wasn't like she expected any from the military but this was horrible, this fact that Hope might not be- Serah quickly silenced the thought, it wasn't something her mind would take kindly to. It would only make her already dampened mental state of the past few days even worse and that wasn't something she wanted. No, she had to keep faith that he was okay, just like Sazh said she should.

Shaking her head clear of the thoughts, Serah focused her attention back on Sazh. "Does Snow know about this yet?" she questioned.

Sazh shook his head. "No, he's up on guard duty, I'm not allowed to call him down here, this would only serve as a distraction. He doesn't need to hear it now anyway."

"I guess you're right," Serah answered. Abruptly turning on her heel she backtracked to the door, pausing and placing her hand on its frame, she told both Sazh and Claire, "I think I'll go back now, okay?"

Sazh gave her a nod in return, not missing the off sound of her voice. After the sound of Serah's footsteps all but disappeared, Claire turned to Sazh and asked ,"Care to explain that nice little response of hers, it was kinda, um, odd?"

Sazh sighed and patted her shoulder, saying, "You'll find that when she gives you a response like that, no matter what the situation, it all links back to your aunt eventually."

"Ah, I could have guessed that."

"Sure you could," Sazh said patting her on the shoulder again and leading them both out of the room.

"Hey, don't say it like I'm an idiot, you know yourself that I'm smarter than you," Claire argued.

"I realise, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have any common sense outside of the battlefield."

Claire, knowing when to quit resigned to mumbling to herself as Sazh leaded them around and out of the military quarters. Once outside and a far bit away from the military quarters, with no one in either direction of them, Claire turned to Sazh and asked, "Hey, just wondering, but," she hesitated, "what do you think were Hope's chances of actually surviving that attack?"

Sazh shrugged."Can't say, but there were 5000 soldiers registered there a few days ago, for that to go down to the mere low hundreds, as much as it pains me to say, he didn't have all that much."

"Hmm," Claire sounded, rotating around on her heels absent-mindedly.

"I wish he's alright. Mum was really close to him, she doesn't need to lose someone else," she said quietly.

"Let's hope for both their sakes he is, then," Sazh told her, nodding slowly.

Contrary to the seriousness of their conversation, Claire suddenly found herself giggling to herself.

"What?" Sazh quickly responded.

"Nothing, it's just, your choice of words," she choked out over her rising laughs.

"Be serious," Sazh said hitting her over the head with the back of his hand almost casually, like this was something that happened often.

"I'm sorry, it's not my fault that some women decided to name her son Hope! I mean, of all the names in the world, why did she have to choose that one?"

Breathing out a frustrated sigh, Sazh patted her on the shoulder. "You, Claire, are just one hopeless little nutcase. You lack the means to be any semblance of serious for more than a few seconds."

As Claire's hysterical laugher subsided, slowly she straightened up and muttered an apology to Sazh.

"Sorry, sorry, but I couldn't help it."

Breathing out another sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose saying, "Course you couldn't."

A short silence passed between them as Sazh dropped both his hands back down his sides. Breaking the silence he told Claire suddenly, "Oof, they kept me in that planning room too long tonight, I need to get some sleep."

Claire nodding, understanding that being kept up till past twelve at night would have anyone willing to just fall asleep where they stood, and Sazh was no exception. Muttering a quick good bye to the girl in front of him Sazh turned on his heel and walked in the other direction.

Left alone in the desolate hallway, Claire leaned her back against the wall pondering what she would now. Annoyingly enough but her trip to the military quarters seemed to have washed away her tiredness and she wasn't too sure if she could get to sleep if she tried right now.

Biting her lip absent-mindedly, she decided that for starters she'd see if her mother had actually gone back to bed. Her money was on 'no in way in hell'.

Claire was right, her mother hadn't gone to bed. her parent's room was deserted, seeing how her father was still stuck on guard. Walking out of the room, her ears picked up the sound of a person, or more than likely two people, whispering. She smirked to herself at the sound; she knew exactly where go to find to the culprits. Walking to the door directly in front of her, slamming it open, she was met with the sight of her two younger siblings awake, out of bed and...playing poker?

Claire stood dumbfounded at the situation facing her; sure, she knew when she heard the whispering that they were still awake, but poker? What little kids plays poker at 1 o'clock at night?

Gradually she stepped forward to approach her brother and sister, still with the dumbfounded expression her face had adopted at the doorway plastered on her face.

"Um, hey guys, um, may I ask what in the world you're doing?"

"Playing poker," Joshua replied casually.

"At 1 o'clock at night, when you were supposed to be asleep hours ago?"

"Yeps" Ereka answered.

"Hmm" Claire mumbled quietly. "Why are you doing so, can I ask?"

Very casually both her siblings shrugged, the older one answering.

"We were bored."

Stopping herself from cracking up laughing like she had previously, Claire managed to tell Joshua, "Yeah I can see that Joshy, but why, pray tell, did you not think of going to sleep like you were meant to six and four and a half hours ago?"

"But I don't want to go to sleep," Ereka pouted from her side of the room to the left of Claire. Staring at the adorably pouting Ereka, Claire lost her fight with her giggles and succumbed to laughing her head off at the adorable yet utterly useless pout her little sister was pulling.

For a long moment both Joshua and Ereka remained silent and let the room be filled with the sound of their sister's hysterical laughs. At the moment's end, Claire somehow managed to get her laughing somewhat under control and choked out, "I'm sorry, but I've been trying not to laugh ever since I walked in here and Ereka that pout of yours just ruined all of my hard work." Straightening up and composing herself, Claire silenced her laughs completely and said a lot more calmly, "And Ereka while that is one of the adorable pouts I've ever seen, it's if you use what has to be one of the cliché lines used by kids all around the world to avoid going to sleep, your argument shall became null and void as far as I'm concerned."

If possible, saying that just made Ereka pout more and Claire was hard pressed not to crack up laughing once again. Walking up to her Claire patted her on her blonde head affectionately, saying, "Seriously though, Ereka that pout of yours isn't going to work on me any time soon."

By her close proximity to them, the cards at her feet caught Claire's attention and she was taken over by curiosity at what she saw next to them.

This curiosity was what provoked the question, "Um guys, what exactly is that you are using to bet?"

"Candy," Joshua replied casually once more.

"And the winner gets the losers dessert tomorrow" Ereka finished.

Claire raised an eyebrow at that. "You know, as tempting as it is to steal someone's dessert I still think you have to go to bed."

"But Claire!"

"No buts Ereka. You were meant to go to sleep hours ago."

"But-"Ereka's argument was cut short by Joshua's interjection.

"What about you, what are you doing up, hmm?"

That provoked a laugh from Claire who in turn, turned to Ereka and said, "See Ereka, why can't you be more of a smart ass like your brother? If I hadn't been stuck in the kitchens with the old hag lady for the past three hours that would have had me cut."

Joshua death glared her in return saying, "And what else have you been doing other than poisoning our food? They close the kitchens at twelve."

Claire stopped abruptly, freezing, the memory of what she had done since leaving the kitchens finding its place in her mind again. Words reaching her lips again she muttered a quick "damn it, how could I forget that so easily?"

For a second Joshua took this as he'd won the argument but Claire quickly silenced him with a wave of her finger. "No, it's got nothing to do with this Joshy, it's something else."

"What is it then?" he questioned in a tone he used specifically to annoy his older sister, but not wanting to deal with any of his crap anymore, Claire answered ,"Not right now I'll tell you in the morning."

Turning to face the door Claire turned back suddenly and asked, "Do either of you have any idea where mum might be hiding away right now?"

"Is mum MIA again?" Ereka asked.

"Dunno, the only place I've checked is her room but she's not there right now and I'm not too sure where she might've gone," Claire answered her.

"You could check the sky light, she likes to go there when she's sad." Ereka offered.

"How do you know she's sad?" Claire questioned

Ereka shrugged. "She's been sad a lot lately, why should today be any different?"

That sentence caused Claire to frown sadly at Ereka. You had to give it to kids; they didn't miss things, even if you thought they did.

"Guess you're right," Claire told her in a sad tone, her sister was right, why should she tell her any different?

Walking away from them Claire faced the door telling the two kids behind her, "And go to sleep you two! If dad comes back after he's let off guard you'll actually get in trouble."

With that, she twisted the knob open and let herself out of the room. Pausing just outside, she pressed her back against the closed door and breathed out a sigh. Truth be told she was getting really tired of her mother's moping moods. Sure she'd lost some people who were pretty damn important to her in her life but what did all that moping amount to?

Nothing.

That all it would ever do, so it was downright useless in the end. Pulling away from the door Claire turned towards the right and began to trace a well-known path to the skylight.

Checking every few rooms she passed just in case, Claire for what was probably the time that night, twisted in and around the millions of hallways that criss-cross around the safe house. When she arrived at the room that housed the skylight, Claire breathed out a sigh of relief. While she knew the underground safe houses afforded a great protection there was nothing that said she couldn't hate how much of a labyrinth so many of them were.

Stepping inside her mind just about screamed 'hallelujah' as she spied her mum sitting on a high ledge. Now she would be saved from wondering around the halls for at least a while more.

Treading quietly to the craggy wall to the side of the high ledge her mother sat upon she gripped the rocks that stuck out of the wall and hurled herself up. Reaching the ledge she swung onto it and landed gracefully at its edge.

Straightening up she stared over to look upon her mother, she was gazing up at the see-through glass that rested in earthen ceiling of the room. The skylight was a glass window that enabled sight to the world outside, it was hidden outside by a dark green tint on the windows surface and it's proximity to the roots of a giant tree that stood above it. Still, it was something, that Valhallans hadn't spotted such a thing in her books.

Staring up to the long window above them, Claire took note of the change in weather since the morning. A thunderstorm raged above them, lightning splitting the sky open with a mighty flash.

"Lightning," Claire whispered into the silent room.

Serah visibly flinched at the sound. "Ah, d... didn't notice you come in," she muttered quickly.

"Heh, you seriously didn't hear me walk into to a silent room, where there was no sound other than my footsteps where I proceeded to climb up a wall and land on this ledge right beside you?"

Serah shook her head sheepishly. "No"

Claire gave her a sad smile. "You're really out of it then, huh?"

Serah didn't answer her, choosing instead to return her gaze to the skylight above them both. Shrugging at her mother's lack of answer Claire continued to say, "But you've had to deal with some pretty bad stuff the past few days, so I guess you're forgiven."

Finishing the sentence, Claire joined her mother and stared up to the skylight, observing the fierce raging storm over head. After a short silence passed between them Serah spoke up saying, "I've always loved coming up here when it's raining. I've always loved the rain."

Leaning back until her back lay upon the ground, Serah lifted one arm and placed it behind her head, the other one lying upon her chest.

"But you know what?" she whispered to the girl beside her, who adopted a similar position beside her.

"When I was young it used to scare me. Well, storms did, it wasn't the rain or anything, just all the thunder and lightning."

Claire laughed slightly beside her, and twisting onto her side so that she faced her mother, she said as teasingly as was humanly possible, "Oh come on, how in the world would lightning frighten you, it's so pretty."

The tease provoked a little giggle from the still downcast Serah. "To you nutcase. You and my sister are so alike-" She shut herself up there, not letting herself finish the sentence. Sitting back up, Serah brought both arms around her knees and took on an austere silence.

Breathing a loud sigh of frustration, Claire followed her mother's lead and sat up to sit beside her.

"You gonna do this every time?"

"Mmm" Serah mumbled.

"Answer me," Claire demanded her.

With still no answer Claire only grew more annoyed and decided to take a different stance, take advantage of something she'd been thinking earlier that evening.

"Why do you do this mum, just about every time you mention her, or someone else does, you do - well, this."

Serah turned her head the opposite direction to Claire, stubbornly refusing to heed her words.

Biting her lip in frustration, Claire continued ."It isn't very nice you know, do you seriously think that the woman, from what I've been able to scrape together about her, who would go to hell and back for your sake, would want you moping around like this just because she isn't here any more?"

Though her last argument didn't provoke any kind of answer, this time at least it provoked some sort of reaction, even if that reaction was nothing more than her mother meeting her own gaze.

"Grow up why don't you? Your sister wouldn't want this and I shouldn't be scolding my mother like she's some naughty kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar!"

With her rant finished, Claire directed her attention once again to the skylight, leaving her mother still crawled up with her stare still stuck on her. It didn't take as long as she thought it would have for her mother to speak up again.

"You probably just repeated the same rant my friends have been telling for years," Serah stated plainly.

Pinching the bridge of her noise Claire breathed out, "Figured as much."

"Hm"

"But would you listen to me, like you so obviously ignored them? I doubt having your daughter yelling at you like that is nice."

"It isn't," Serah answered right away, "It wasn't nice having any of them yelling at me."

"But there's still the question of you listening to me?" Claire asked again.

Serah shrugged. "Don't know."

Sighing Claire lay back down on the floor and stared silent all of five second before saying, "Can you promise something then at least. If Hope did die in that attack, never, ever, do this when it comes to him or I swear I am going to rip your head off."

Serah stared over at Claire for a moment before the girl quickly said, "Sorry about how I ended my last sentence, but for all my life I've had to deal with you not being able to mention more than a few words about my aunt and I sure as hell don't want you doing the same thing when it comes to Hope."

"Sorry."

"You better apologise. It was damn annoying" Claire said grumpily.

Suddenly lurching back into a sitting position she quickly said, "Oh and one last thing."

"What." Serah asked.

With a slight smirk on her face she said, "For the rest of this conversation, if I mention your sister, you're not allowed to do that sad moping thing again, okay?"

"Um, I guess" Serah answered slowly.

"Good" Claire muttered ,"because I plan to mention her a lot."

As she lay back onto the ground and resumed staring at the skylight once again Claire heard her mother whisper to herself, "Evil incarnate."

"I can hear you perfectly" she informed her, only to be met with the sound of her mum's grouchy mumblings.

As Claire attention was caught by the flashes of lightning streaking their way through the darkened skies, she found herself asking, "Hey mum, why did your sister call herself Lightning?"

When she was met with mumbles she quickly reminded her mother of what she'd promised. "What did I just tell you?"

"That's not why I didn't respond, it was just - kind of a downer."

Propping herself on one elbow, Claire asked "What was it then?"

With an odd twist of her month Serah answered "Lightning flashes bright and then fades away. It doesn't protect, it can only destroy."

"Hmm," Claire sounded, staring at her mother rather oddly.

"Don't mind me asking but did your sister have problems by chance?"

Pinching her nose Serah answered, "Oh dear Etro, she had more than her fair share."

"I can see that."

With no more immediate questioned laid herself down onto the rock ledge once again and propped her arms behind her head.

"Hey, after she became, well, Lightning, did you miss who she was before?"

"I missed her a world; she was a lot colder as Lightning." Serah responded.

"But you never got most of that coldness didn't you?"

"No, but I did sometimes," She replied softly. "She'd regretted a lot of that though."

"Hm."

"She was a lot better after all the L'cie stuff but she was still Lightning, and Lightning and Claire were two extremely different people."

Tilting her head to the left slightly Claire let those words hang in the air for a while before asking, "What made her so different?"

Shrugging her shoulders at the question Serah answered, "A lot of things really, our dad's death hurt her, our mum's was just overkill, it wasn't something she needed." Sighing she finished, "And there were so many bad things that happened to her in her life, things I have no want to name right now, it tore my heart apart to watch them happen to her. To say they changed her is an understatement. It warped her, Claire"

Her mother's last sentence had Claire at a loss for words; she only knew a bare minimum about her aunt. Simple things like her age difference from her mum, how she used to hate her father with a passion before they got stuck together as L'cie. That Hope has apparently, according to her father and Sazh, spent a little too much time with her.

And that she'd do anything to protect her mother from harm.

Taking in the knowledge that her mother's past words had presented her with, Claire could easily surmise that that protectiveness could easily have made her aunt put herself through a lot of pain just to keep her safe.

"She'd put herself through a lot of pain for your sake, wouldn't she?"Claire repeated out loud.

"All it took to keep my head above water. She'd do anything it took for that, but sometimes it really wasn't something she needed on her plate." Serah said in turn.

A long silence passed between them as they both stared up at the stars beyond the skylight, the storm receding.

After a time, Claire spoke up again.

"Hey, you know what; I don't think your sister's reasoning for calling herself Lightning was very fitting."

A little startled by the change in topic, Serah asked, "How so?"

Smiling, Claire answered "Because she protected you, even if she thought she didn't, she looked after you from when your parents died till the day she disappeared."

Still Staring up at the skylight, Serah said, "Yeah, she did, didn't she?"

"And another thing. This is kinda going on what Sazh keeps on saying about me looking freakishly like her, excluding my more circler face, but she was really pretty right?"

Giving a small laugh, Serah answered her. "Pretty. Lightning was beautiful."

"All the better then."

"Why?"

Giggling to herself Claire pointed up to the remnants of the storm "Because she was beautiful like the lightning."

Following Claire's pointing finger back to the skylight, Serah stared at the clearing skies and smiled.

"Heh, your right."

Twisting her head around so that she faced her daughter, Serah told her in a more cheerful tone, "You know what, you make a pretty convincing argument about someone you barely know."

Claire shrugged at her and replied "Hm, I just put facts together, it's easy enough."

Glancing up at the calming skies, Claire said rather needlessly, "Aww, I'm gonna miss the rain now, there's no more lightning anymore."

"Why's that a bad thing? Its gets damp in less reinforced areas around here anyway if it rains too long." Serah questioned her.

Pointing her finger in the air, Claire argued, "I restate my original argument on lightning, it's pretty."

"And I tell you again, you're a nutcase."

Pouting uselessly at her mother, Claire argued once more, "Why is it impossible for lightning to be pretty, just look at the way the sky's lit up by the bolts, they're lights in the sky."

Pondering her daughter's last argument for a moment, Serah was forced to concede. "Okay, okay, you just may have a point on the last one."

"Bout time I got through to you," Claire said cheerfully.

"Oh," Claire sounded quickly, "I just thought of another reason I like more than your sister's reasoning to call herself Lightning."

Curious, Serah queried, "What is it?"

"First off, her nickname was more fitting."

"Light? Who in the world even calls her that near you?" Serah questioned.

"Dad and Hope when they're not really all there" was the quick reply.

Serah figured as much, but more curious of Claire's reasoning she asked.

"So what's your reasoning then?"

Smiling, Claire answered her, "Technically, I've already said it."

"Huh?"

Pointing up at the skylight once more Claire answered ,"Lightning lights up the sky, remember?"

Scrunching her eyes up in confusion, Serah queried, "What do you mean by that?"

Smiling, Claire cleared it up for her "She was someone really special to you, right? She was a light in your life, someone who truly made you happy."

Staring over at her daughter for a second, Serah soon returned her smile, saying, "Yeah you're right, she was a light in a lot of people's lives, even if she never acknowledged it."

Claire nodded slowly at her mother's words, taking them in. Gradually lifting herself off the ground, Claire stretched and walked to the edge of the ledge.

"Going now are you?" Serah asked.

"Yeah." Claire replied casually.

Nodding Serah replied, "That's fine, but I think I'll stay here a little longer."

"Sure, sure, but um, one more thing mum."

"Yeah?"

Kneeling down beside her mother, Claire whispered, "This thing with Hope, don't let it drag you down. Like Sazh said, we need to keep faith that he's alright, we need to keep Hope as he is."

Staring up into Claire's eyes, Serah nodded. "Right," she replied, knowing full well that if she did let this get to her she'd be getting an earful from Claire and Goddess knows who else.

Getting back up, Claire continued her walk towards the edge of the ledge. Jumping off and grabbing the craggy wall, Claire proceeded to climb down to the ground below. Before she reached that though, she called out to her mother above her.

"Oh! Just so you know, before I came here, I went back to my room and Ereka and Joshy were still awake and they were playing poker, betting with candy. I told them to go to bed but I don't think they listened. They're probably still awake."

Back at the top of the ledge, Serah sighed to herself and lay back down one last time, thinking all the while, 'are any of my children sane?'

* * *

><p>and thats the chapter.<p>

not the best i've ever writen but it will do i guess (the worst i've ever writen and actually posted is the first chapter to my story UDKH)

my sister (envious sky) has told me i have to promote her story wings of regret.

its a good story trust me, but it is rather dark and only gets worst as it goes on, so take that as a warning if you decide to read it.

i also have to promote 0erbayunFang's stories of course, or what kind of friend would i be.

and the shameless self promoter i am, i incourage you to read my other two stories, especially UDKH, especially that one.

its my favourite but it's extremely unpopular, thought thats because the first chapter is badly writen and rather confusing.

but it does get better as it goes on, and alot of the confusing stuff gets explained in chapter four, which i am currently writing, its a pretty good chapter so far too, so please find it somewhere in your hearts to go read that story and try to put up with the crappy/confusing start it has.

and lastly i thank the people who are actually reading this and i incourage you to review.

it makes me so happy to see i have more reviews and i'm encouraged to write the story more.

so bye for now and please R&R.


	4. The unpleasant women that is lady luck

_Hello all my readers._

_This chapter is a week late because my beta took her time reading it, promised me it on tuesday and it's now friday. __At least it posted now._

_I've had a really stupid last few days, there has been this girl at school who has been making a pitiful attempt at bullying me. __She's been coming up to my friend for the past few and telling him that he's gay, it was very funny to watch seeing how fail it was._

_Then just yesterday she came up to me and my sister and asked us if we were virgins, we didn't tell her anything of course, because as any person with a strip of brains with their body would know that's private. W__n we didn't tell, she said that there was nothing we could do to stop her asking, and while that was true, it didn't mean we had to answer, she didn't realise that._

_I ended up telling my friend to ignore 'it' and when I called her it she completely overeacted, and while swearing her head off called me names that included freak, mental patient (she actually said mental impatient)bitch and she also said that my face was hairy and I had a moustouche (which is a overstatment to the max, it was made funnier by the fact that my friends face is exactly the same as mine hair wise)_

_She has now became a very funny inside joke between me and my friends (too bad 0erbayunFang was away sick, she missed out on the failness)_

_If you've noticed, I am unbullyable (I don't think that s a word)_

_Anyway, enjoy the chapter_

**Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy, square enix does.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Unpleasant Woman That is Lady Luck<strong>_

Standing a few metres away from a group of people huddled around a small fire, Hope stood leaning his back against a tree, his mind going over what the past few days had contained.

It had been six days since the devastating Valhallan attack on the base, only a two-hundred-and-sixty-odd men and women had been found alive in and around the ruins of the Yaschas Massif military base. They had stayed at the site for a couple of days afterwards, rummaging through the remnants of the base looking for survivors and sending runners off to safe houses and other military bases to inform them of the attack. After four days of looking through the ruins for survivors – something that had turned out to be a next to useless attempt – the people still alive had separated into groups to head off to safe houses or a base or two, safe houses being the better alternative seeing as there were more of them close to the destroyed base then there were other military bases.

Hope had chosen to go to one of the safe houses, informing his friends that he was still alive was currently at the top of his list of things he needed to do. But even with the shorter travelling path than others who had chosen to go to the bases, simply being outside for any amount of time was a dangerous thing to do. The lands were crawling with Valhallans always ready to attack when the situation called for it – and for them that was nothing more than the sighting of a human in the open lands.

And as the demolished base he and the others had left behind him showed, the small group of seven that accompanied him were no match for such a fight.

Turning his head around to face the source of oncoming steps, Hope found the slim form of Savina walking towards him; half distracted by the starry sky above her. As she came to a stop just to the side of him, her eyes still locked with the sky in a dreamy daze, Hope poked her in the shoulder in an attempt to wake her from her trance and said, "Hey, you even there?"

Snapping out of her partial daze, Savina blinked her eyes and answered, "Um, yeah. My mind's kinda just refusing to focus on anything but the stars tonight."

Looking up into the star-laden sky himself Hope nodded absent-mindedly, and sought to start up a conversation with the girl beside him who was slowly mentally drifting away again.

"Nice to see your back to your usual self again, I was worried for a while back there."

"Jinx it and I'll turn into a fire breathing demon just to bite your head off," she snapped at him quickly.

Stifling a laugh at her response, Hope mumbled to himself, "Yep, definitely back to your old self."

Jokingly striking a pose at his words, Savina gave a little laugh and responded with, "And unfortunately for you, my regular self is an utterly insane maniac."

"Realised," Hope mumbled under his breath, intending for Savina not to hear him say it.

But contrary to what he tried the girl quickly informed him, "I can hear you perfectly you know."

Hope shot the girl a look of slight surprise; before he shook his head roughly thinking as he did so, _'Of course.'_ Why should have thought any different when it came to Savina? She could hear a mouse crawl across the floor in a room filled with screaming people.

Returning his gaze to the sky above him for a moment, Hope heard the sound of Savina's feet crunching against the soil on the ground as she stepped closer to him.

"So how much longer do you think we have till we get to the safe house?"

Knowing that after the thirteen years of Valhallans infesting the lands of Pulse when compared to Savina nineteen years alive, she hadn't had all too many chances to get familiar with the lay of the land. Hope thought the question over in his head.

Reaching an answer he told her, "A couple more days at least, give or take a few depending on what happens out here, so it's hard to say exactly."

Humming to herself as she listened to Hope's answer, Savina held both her arms behind her back, one grasping the other as she listened.

Looking out to the lands beyond their small camp, she asked Hope off-topic, "Hey Hope, you know how you've been out this way in the past, before the Valhallans came I mean. What's it like? I used to hear all these tales of what Archylte Steppe was like when I was younger but you don't really hear about places like that anymore."

Tilting his head to follow Savina's gaze out to the south of their camp, Hope thought over her words again in his head. She was right about how you don't really hear about that many places on Pulse anymore, the only ones important enough to name were those that where military bases and safe houses were positioned. The rest, while as big as they may be like the Archylte Steppe, were not seen as important anymore or even worthwhile to go near, seeing as wide open places like that would be nothing more than Valhallan feeding frenzies by the end, so the sight it made was nothing in comparison. Those foolhardy enough to actually go near such places after the Valhallan had started attacking were some of the first to die.

Shaking his head to stop his mind from digressing further, Hope went back to Savina's initial question, trying to think up an answer that the girl would be satisfied with. Thinking of one, he turned to face the girl a few steps behind him and told her, "There's not all that much to say. The Archylte steppe is this great expanse of land that goes on for miles, you can't even see the end of it; you could say it makes a beautiful sight I guess."

Trying to hold back a smile that was inappropriate for the contents of his next sentence Hope finished, "But then you have to deal with the mountainous supply of monsters that fill it from head to toe that keep on trying to kill you."

"Huh," Savina said running the words through her head, "well isn't that wonderful? Just add a little Valhallan and you've got yourself a killing fest."

Casting a glance over at the remaining six soldiers who sat by the fire, Savina added in a more serious tone, "Definitely not going near there then, aren't we?"

Hope shook his head in answer. "That we are not, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your wits about you. The Vallis Media still has its dangers as well."

"Know your way around here don't you?" Savina questioned suddenly, speaking her thoughts aloud.

Hope looked her way for a short while, thinking to himself about her words. He did know the lay of the land out here – learnt it a long time ago – but it hadn't been under the best circumstances. He'd been branded a l'Cie back then, and even through that had been how he'd met the friends he now held close, the whole situation wasn't really something he wanted to talk about. He just hoped that Savina would know to stay away from the subject.

Unfortunately for him, his wish was ignored.

Staring off in the direction opposite of him, Savina asked him hesitantly, not sure if he'd give her an answer, "Hey Hope, I know it's off topic and you probably don't wanna tell me but why do you never talk about all that l'Cie stuff? it's how you met all your friends, right?" Halting for a second, she continued as she looked over to stare Hope in the face, "It's how you met Lightning, right?"

Hope turned away from her to stare out along the valley of the Vallis Media. Without even having to ask, he knew this was just one of her ploys to get more information about Lightning from him. And of all people, her name was one he didn't permit to pass his lips; it didn't matter how time passed after what happened back then. She amounted to nothing more than a source of pain.

Sensing that he wasn't going to answer her, Savina was about to apologise for even asking before a voice called out from the group surrounding the fire in the middle of the camp interrupted her.

"Hey you two, it's about time we got to sleep. We have to head out early in the morning."

Turning to face the source of the sound, Savina gave the man standing away from the camp a nod and turned back to Hope. "He's right you know, this isn't the best place to walk around tired."

After Hope nodded to her in return, Savina twisted on her heel and headed back to the small camp swathed in firelight, thinking as her feet took her away from Hope and closer to the six others why in the world she had even asked him that question. She knew from experience that he only became sadder every time she'd tried to get information about Lightning from him. She'd done it enough times for him to catch on to her when she was doing it.

Watching her go, Hope ran her question through his mind once more. It was simple enough yes, but as the years went by he'd come to hate being made to talk about Lightning just as much as Serah had.

It was simple. Why would he want to talk about the source of his haunting nightmares?

...:...

Waking in the early hours of the morning, Hope opened his eyes to the sight of the sun slowly rising over the high rocky walls of the Vallis Media. The other four men and three women still lay asleep but slowly waking from their individual slumbers. As he waited for them to rise, Hope sat against one of the high rock walls that lay on either side of where he and the others had sent up camp, tracing the path of the sun slowly rising higher into the sky with his eyes. The sound of someone grumbling as they forced themselves into wakefulness to the side of him made him turn his gaze back down to the earth.

It was Savina that met his, as she rolled off her side and onto her back wiping a hand across her eyes to rid them of sleep. Glancing around the quiet camp, her tired eyes found Hope, leaning his back against the rock wall.

"Anyone else awake yet?" she asked him, even though she could've just as easily cast a proper look about the camp to see.

"No," Hope answered her, "we're the only ones up."

Getting up herself and sending a proper look around the camp to check, Savina turned back to him and asked, "Should we wake them up?"

Glancing around the camp quickly and over at the still-rising sun, Hope nodded, "Yeah."

As both of them moved to wake up the others, Savina asked in curiosity, "How come you didn't wake us up when you first woke up?"

Telling her in all seriousness, Hope answered her, "Quite literally Savina, I've learned better than to try and wake you up."

Pausing in her attempt to wake one of her rather grumpy comrades, Savina thought back to the last few times anyone, Hope included, had been left with the task of waking her up.

"You probably dodged a bullet there."

Smiling at her answer, Hope thought to himself _'that I did'._

Soon enough all the camp's occupants had been successfully roused from their sleep and into the real world, and allowed a short time to properly wake up. After a few minutes of that, they got to work on erasing any traces of their camp, extinguishing the embers of the fire that had been lit the night before and covering their tracks. It was done within a few moments and the small group set off along the trail of Vallis Media.

There were groups of Pulsian monsters at irregular intervals along the long trail that attacked them when approached, but they were only small fry compared to what you'd find out along the Steppe. For a while all went well and it went along like normal, without many disturbances other than the few monsters, but like always, bad luck could be such a bitch.

As they turned a small corner, they were faced with a horrible sight. Right in front of them, taking up the majority of the narrow path with it's hulking form, was a sleeping Savrog.

Oh joy.

Stopping decently short of the hulking mass all of them froze, with a mixture of emotions as the cause. Mostly it was surprise or fear from some of the younger soldiers, but that wasn't taking into account the sanity-challenged Savina.

"Oh isn't it just adorable," she whispered, keeping her voice low so that the sound wouldn't wake it up.

Seven pairs of eyes flew to her to stare at her in confusion, the youngest of the soldiers – a Private by the name of Essência –even asking Hope, "Lieutenant, has she gone insane?"

"She was always insane," Hope answered her whilst walking to the side of the path, his words going unnoticed by the distracted Savina. Looking down the small gap between the rock wall and the monster, Hope motioned the others towards him, telling them as they came to stand beside him, "We should be able to get through here, just – for the love of the Goddess – be careful not to fall onto that thing."

Stepping forward apprehensively Hope trod ever closer to the sleeping Savrog, noticing from the corner of his eye Essência pulling Savina away from her spot where she was staring at the beast. Up close to it now, he was forced to view the thing in a clearer light.

It was beyond him how Savina could find it in her to call it adorable, it was one of the ugliest things he'd ever seen! It even had a face on its ass for the Goddess's sake!

Stepping over the slight gap between monster and wall, Hope successfully passed it without falling over and onto the Savrog, and made his way to the other side safely. Hesitantly the others soon followed; one by one, they stepped through the tight gap, with a few close calls along the way, included when Savina nearly slipped over because she was too distracted by staring at the Savrog.

But once again, Lady Luck wasn't on their side today and as Essência struggled to get though the small gap she tripped and fell to the side, right onto the sleeping Savrog.

The effects were instantaneous, the winged creature started to rouse from its sleep becoming more and more aware of its surroundings as the seconds ticked by. Darting quickly to pick Essência from where she had fallen on the ground, Hope lifted her up and pulled the young girl away from the still-rising monster and back to stand beside the rest of them.

"S-sorry," the girl stuttered out as the Savrog got up onto its feet and began to seek them out.

"Too late for that now," Hope told her, pulling out his weapon and brandishing it in front of him, ready for the battle that would come. Beside and behind him, the others did the same and prepared for the fight this monster would soon cast on them.

Launching itself into the air and spinning around to face them, the Savrog let out a mighty roar and prepared to attack.

...:...

As the battle came to a close, the monster fell to the ground defeated, its life at an end. In the same moment, Essência dropped to her knees and blew out a sigh, muttering out a "Thank the Goddess," to herself at the monster's death.

Grabbing her arm and lifting the young girl off the ground, Hope brought her back up to stand on her feet, swearing he heard Savina whisper as he did so, "Poor adorable little monster, Too bad we had to kill you."

This time everyone who heard her absurd words chose to ignore her instead of looking her way in confusion, except Essência who whispered loud enough for Hope to hear, "Definitely insane."

Walking away from the beast's still corpse, Hope walked closer to the beginnings of a cave. He knew from memory that this cave was more passageway than anything else, as he'd come through this way many times before. Tilting his head backwards to face the rest of his comrades, who were still catching their breath after the fight, or in Savina's case, still staring at the monstrous winged creature that lay metres away from him dead, as if it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

Calling out to them he said, "Hey guys, come on. It's this way."

Stepping forward and into the mouth of the cave, with the others soon following, Essência pulled up alongside him. Staring around the dark cave, she started questioning Hope about their location, as she– like Savina – had never been this way before, "Where does this lead, Lieutenant?"

Looking about the cave himself Hope answered her, "It'll lead to the end of Vallis Media; if you follow the normal path you'll end up at the Archylte Steppe."

"But we're not going anyway near there are we?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

Hope shook his head. "No, I don't mean to scare you but that would be suicide for anyone these days."

"So, where are we going then?"

"To get to the Mynscentar forest safe house from here, you have to scale the cliffs at the end of Vallis Media and get down to the valley at the bottom, then follow that path until it starts turning into a hill and where it will lead you into Mynscentar forest, but from then on it gets trickier."

Looking over at him, Essência inquired, "Trickier how?"

Laughing a little at her question Hope gestured to all the people surrounding him. "Do you know anyone here who's familiar with the position of Mynscentar safe house? It's nothing but a needle in a haystack when we're given the task of finding it."

"Oh," Essência muttered at his answer. She had to give it to him: he had a point, a really good one. Staying quiet for a time, Essência continued to look over the cave, her eyes darting from one place to another on the cave's surface. As they came ever closer to the cave's end, she spoke up again, voicing her own thoughts, "Something about this place scares me, but what I wonder?"

Gazing along the walls of the cave Hope spoke to her, "Wouldn't be able to say, I'm not you. Can't say this place scares me myself though, but I don't have some of the best memories of it."

The moment he said the words he wished he hadn't, such a sentence would leave room for questions, and of course with Essência barely knowing him, she didn't know that being questioned about his past experiences here was the least thing he wanted.

"What happened to you here that was bad?"

Essência watched as a slight frown appeared on Hope's face as she questioned him. It didn't take a genius to realise that he didn't feel like answering her.

Her thought was confirmed when he told her, "I don't really want to talk about it."

She nodded, her chance at conversation gone down the drain as Hope's demeanour became downcast. Essência wondered how what it was about her question that could cause such a change in his emotions. Perhaps she'd ask Savina about it: she seemed to have known Hope for quite some time.

Coming to the opening of the cave, Hope shielded his eyes as the sunlight shone through the opening and into their faces. Walking out of what was left of the cave he found himself at the edge of a cliff, a small pathway leading across the edge and back onto soild knew that if they followed that pathway it would lead them to the Archylte Steppe, but that was neither their destination nor the smart thing to do.

Walking forward, Hope strode directly to the front of him and to the edge of the cliff, looking over the edge warily. Gesturing the others to walk towards him, he pointed down the steep valley told them as they stepped in line beside him.

"This is what we have to climb down, so follow the path down in the valley for a day or so and it'll start tilting up and become a hill. It'll lead us into Mynscentar."

Peering over the high ledge as he finished talking, the others took in the daunting sight the deep valley made. Hissing almost as if she was in pain, Essência stammered out, "W-we really have to go down there?"

Hope nodded, finding their fear funny in a way, considering that two the group's members were well over his age; yet he was still more brave in the face of the task ahead.

"Yep, it'd probably be more easier with rope – and a lot safer for that matter – but we'll have to manage."

Easier said than done.

The climb down took them beyond half an hour to descend, with many close calls as their hands slipped off from handholds or crumbling rocks between their fingers leaving nothing to grasp, resulting in some nearly falling the rest of the way down only for them to catch hold of the rock again. After the arduous descent, all eight of them met at the bottom, Savina being the last to finish, since she was continuously impaired by her fear of heights.

Now came the tiresome day-long walk out of this valley which everyone wasn't looking forward to one bit but as worn out as they all were the decision to call a short breather was unanimous among all of them, so they settled down for a few minutes so that all of them could catch some rest before they continued on along the valley.

Leaning her back against the valley wall, Savina shielded her eyes against the blazing sun that shone down upon her, looking down once she heard the sound of someone walking towards her. Treading one step in front of the other at a slow pace, she found Essência coming closer to her with her gaze directed downwards. Coming to a stop just to the right of Savina, Essência sat down beside her, choosing to stay quiet for a moment before venturing to ask, "How come Hope doesn't like this place?"

Blinking in surprise at her unexpected question, Savina probed her mind for an answer. Sucking in a breath as if she was about to talk, Savina closed her mouth and rethought her answer, but soon told the girl beside her, "It's not like he doesn't like this place, he just has bad memories of it."

"He already told me as much, that's why I'm asking you," Essência said.

"Ah." Looking to her right so she could see Essência's face, Savina asked her, "I'm guessing you're not just gonna let this one pass, are you?"

The girl shook her head. "No, why should I?"

Straightening her back against the rock face, Savina cast a look over the sizable valley and over at Hope. Turning back to look over at Essência she asked abruptly, "Hey, how much do you know about Hope anyway?"

Freezing like she was a kid with their hand catch in the cookie jar, she admitted, "Um, kind of just his rank."

"That would explain a lot," Savina mumbled to herself, her words piquing Essência's curiosity.

"Would explain what?" she queried.

"Why you're even asking, it's kind of common knowledge."

"What is it then?"

"That he was l'Cie, one of the ones from eighteen years ago," Savina explained.

At that Essência went silent, staring off in the direction in front of her, her gaze not necessarily meeting anything in particular.

"What?" she asked, flicking her gaze back to Savina.

"How'd you not know that anyway? Thought you'd at least recognise his name," Savina questioned her.

"Never really been told that much about all that 'Cocoon's Fall' stuff, kind of grew with the world in fear of the Valhallans."

"Huh, still thought you would have heard something," Savina mused to herself.

Essência shrugged her shoulders. "A little, but I wasn't even one by the time of the Fall and the Valhallans came to Pulse when I was four. My parents didn't really reflect on it after that."

"Guess that explains it," Savina muttered to herself again.

Creating a more comfortable position for herself against the rock, Essência asked Savina from sheer curiosity, "Do think it'd be horrible being an l'Cie, spending everyday knowing you could turn into a monster at any moment?"

Using a split second to think of a reply Savina answered her half distracted by her own thoughts circling through her head, "From what I've heard off Hope it was, didn't help that it came just off the Purge"

"He was involved in the Purge?"

"Yeah," Savina said nodding "his mother died in it actually. Didn't leave him in the best mental state, to be honest."

Going quiet, Essência sent a look up to the top of the valley, feeling sincerely sorry for Hope at having to go through so much.

"Is that why this place brings out so many bad memories for him, then?"

"It's a part of the reason," Savina replied.

Glancing over at Savina with a perplexed expression on her face she questioned, "What's the second half then?"

"Lightning," was Savina's quick response.

"Lightning?" the younger girl queried, Savina's answer successfully making her even more confused than before. Giving a small laugh at Essência's confusion, Savina informed her, "I'm talking about a person; it's a name, not the force of nature."

"Oh" Essência sounded, "well who's Lightning then?"

"She," Savina made sure to inform her, "was one of the l'Cie. Hope stuck to her after the Purge and they became real close during the l'Cie incident-"

"Why does she cause this place to be a bad memory then?" Essência interrupted.

"Let me finish my sentence first," Savina advised her before gradually going to tell her, "She disappeared seventeen years ago; no one knows what happened to her."

A whistle coming from the far right of Essência silenced any response she could've given, her attention brought from Savina and to the source of the sound. It was just one of the other soldiers calling an end to the break, and telling them it was time to move on.

Getting up off the ground and brushing off the dirt from her garment, Essência propelled herself forward to where the rest of them were gathering. Without having to look she sensed Savina coming to up to her side, the woman whispering in her ear as she did so, "Word to the wise, I didn't tell you about Lightning."

Before she could question why Savina was telling her this, she had already left her side and walked further ahead to fall into step beside Hope. Pondering Savina's words in her head as they continued down their path down the Valley, she came to the conclusion that, more than likely, the memory of the woman called Lightning would have just become painful to Hope after all these years.

...:...

The track along the valley floor was a tiring one and by the time they all settled in for the night, they were all more than willing to head off to sleep. Taking refuge in a decent-sized alcove in the wall of the valley, they shared out their small supply of rations, most of them deciding to curl up and go to sleep afterwards with Savina choosing to take first watch.

Laying down himself, Hope settled himself into a semi-comfortable position on the cold rocky ground of the valley floor, knowing that it was still hours before someone woke him up to take watch. Closing his eyes Hope fell asleep to what would be the first night since the attack that his dreams would be set alight by the darkness of his haunting nightmares.

...:...

The next day they set out early once again, and continued on down the path that would eventually lead them to Mynscentar forest, where the safe-house resided. They travelled the rocky trail for well into the morning until the path gradually began to slope upwards, leading them out of the valley and up to higher ground. Pausing once they got to the edge of Mynscentar forest, the group sat down against the tall trees of the evergreen forest.

Taking a seat next to Hope, Savina laid herself down on the blades of emerald grass that engulfed the ground for as far as they could see.

"Needle in a haystack, right?"

Nodding, Hope echoed, "Needle in a haystack."

Looking up to see his face from where she lay on the ground Savina said, "Heard you talking to Essência about that before, guess she doesn't really know just how big this place is."

"That she didn't, but what about you? You've never even been here before." Hope pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've heard enough stories to know that we, with no one that really knows their way around this place, will be stuck for days trying to find that god-damned safe house," she told him with a hint of humour in her voice.

"Hm" Hope sounded, thinking outloud "perhaps it would have been better if I'd come over this way more, I would've known the layout a lot more than I do".

Savina shrugged her shoulders at the sentence, "Can't really help that, if the army kept you away then it's not really like you could come here whenever you wanted to."

"Yeah," Hope half agreed, "but I've still been away far too long."

In curiosity, Savina asked him "Just how long has it been since you last saw your friends anyway?"

Cringing, Hope answered her tentatively, "Haven't seen them since before I met you."

"That's five years Hope!" Savina exclaimed in disbelief. "Whoa, you may just have a point there about it being too long, pretty boy."

"May? Five years is a long time, Savina," Hope told her, finding her choice of words an understatement.

"Ok, you definitely have a point there then." Shrugging she told him, "But at least you'll see them soon enough."

"Yeah, guess I will."

The break went along like that for a time, with nothing much happening, just average conversation going on between the soldiers. After thirty minutes had ticked by it was decided that they would start up their trek through the forest, one that would undoubtedly take them days to finish.

So, picking up their small amount of supplies off the forest floor from where they had left them, they set out among the foliage and in the direction of the safe house within the mass of ageless trees.

...:...

Like predicted, the journey had taken them all of four days so far, but Hope was finally beginning to recognise some of the landmarks. He'd memorised a few stationed near the safe house from when he'd been put out on guard some the times he'd been here in the past. Through the times he visited here had come to be few and far between as the years went by, not necessarily because he didn't want to come but because he was kept away by his own circumstances.

The army was one, as were the times when there was a dangerous amount of Valhallans in the area that made traversing the lands extremely dangerous, and all matter of other things. He hadn't even seen his father in the five years he'd been away from here, as he too lived at this safe house. Oddly enough though but he had seen Sazh; the man even at his age had a tendency to go between army bases and man the planes. He had heard rumours lately that he was thinking of giving that up, just live out the rest of his days with his friends in safety, but he could never be too sure until he heard it from Sazh himself.

The sound of a snapping twig woke Hope from his reverie and his eyes shot up to seek out who'd caused the sound. Alarm settled itself within his mind when he found that it hadn't been made by anyone in his small group. The danger wasn't immediate as when they were so close to a safe house it could easily be someone from said safe house out collecting things from the forest, but that didn't clear away all of the threat.

Not even close.

Halting in his tracks as he heard more noises sound off from the not too far away vicinity, the others behind him caught on to the sounds as well and followed Hope's lead; they stopped walking. Approaching the nearest tree he leaned his back against it, made himself as hard to see as possible and peered over the side to see if he could spot the catalyst of the sounds. Hope looked on for a time, the others following his example and hiding themselves while trying to seek out what was making the ever-ongoing sounds.

Still peering over the side of the tree, Hope felt a sense of trepidation; he had a bad feeling of what was beyond the next few trees without even seeing them, they had gone far too long with no evidence of them even being here . And as they rounded the group of trees in Hope's view, his suspicions were confirmed.

Valhallans.

The group of ominous men trotted through the undergrowth of the forest, their watchful eyes seeking out any changes in the environment around them, any glances of people outside of the protection of a safe house. It was a decent sized group; they outnumbered Hope's by more than twice, there were nineteen in all if he counted right.

Biting his lip in contemplation of what to do, Hope glanced back at his small group; they all had their backs pressed to the trunks of trees, and were out of sight of the Valhallans. On their faces he read a mixture of emotions embedded on their faces, fear a prominent one among the many. As he turned his head back to view the Valhallans among the trees, Hope knew that they knew as well as he did, that trying to fight a group of Valhallans that big was certain suicide.

"We need a distraction," he told the people behind him.

"What do you have in mind?" Savina asked from directly behind him, being the closest to him in proximity. Standing up straighter against the trunk of the tree he was leaning on, Hope made a gesture with his hand in the direction east of them. Half ignoring Savina's question, he told them all, "The safe house should be that way if I remember right." Turning his gaze back to the Valhallans he added, "Let me distract those guys."

"What? That's crazy, they could kill you!" Essência exclaimed loudly from her spot the furthest from Hope only to be quickly silenced by an older soldier covering her mouth, to impede her from making any other loud sounds that could direct the Valhallans right to them. Grabbing Hope's arm and saying in a considerably softer voice, not much more than a whisper, Savina said, "Hope she's right, that's suicide!"

Shrugging off her hand, Hope persevered by shaking his head and stated, "I know that, but let me do this."

Stepping forward noiselessly, a soldier, one of the only two older than him and the only one in the small group that outranked him, even if it was only by one, walked closer to him and placed a hand over his own chest. "Why don't I go in your stead, I have more experience in this."

Hope shook his head and told him firmly in a tone that meant no arguments, "No, you help lead the others to safety."

Quickly sensing that further argument would prove useless, most soldiers gave up trying to convince Hope of an alternative. Savina and Essência still looked unsure but didn't try to persuade him further. Directing them to go as far the cover of the group of trees they had hidden behind would allow them, Hope walked in a westerly direction, so that when he caught the Valhallans attention they wouldn't see the others that were heading east. As he crept up to the edge of the tree cover on the western side, Hope prepared a manadrive that he had on his wrist. Stepping out of the cover at last and into the open, he shot of ball of fire at the Valhallans that the manadrive had generated.

The blaze caught the brutes' attention and they instantly turned to seek out its creator, finding Hope standing a ways off to the south of them. A few broke off from the main group to pursue him, while others stayed back, their eyes looking out for anyone else in the immediate area, but found nothing as the other soldiers had already taken their chance to take off when Hope had distracted the Valhallans with the flame.

Dashing out of the way and back behind tree cover and Hope ducked through the foliage to get out of their sights. But after only a few seconds of partial safety in the foliage, one of the Valhallans who had broken off from the main group spotted him, only for a loud clanging sound, that sounded oddly like a frying hitting someone's head rang out through the small area Hope had found himself. The next moment after the sound had been made; the Valhallan that stood in front of him fell to the ground, knocked senseless.

Now standing in front of him was the form of Savina with the flat of her blade brandished in her hand and held high in the air. Lowering her weapon Savina held out her hand to help Hope up from the spot he currently occupied on the ground. Offering him a small smile she gave him an answer to the question that was playing on his mind.

"Ain't in me to leave a friend behind without help, and I thought you definitely needed it, pretty boy."

Letting her lift him back off the ground, Hope grasped her hand and came to stand on his feet. "No getting rid you of then."

"Was there ever?" she shot back with the same smile still plastered on her face, and, lifting her weapon so that it was balanced on her shoulder, she went on, "Now, are we gonna get going or what?"

Nodding, Hope answered her confidently, "Of course."

It would take all they had to give this group of Valhallans the slip. But unfortunately, even with all of that, Lady Luck was not smiling on them today.

...:...

Far from the site of the scuffle with the Valhallans, Seian, the eldest of the group of soldiers, the one who had spoken up to Hope previously, directed the rest of the group towards the hidden entrance to the safe house. Luckily for them, Hope had been right about the location of the safe house and it was now within their sights.

Turning back to cast a look over his shoulder, he silently prayed that both Hope and Savina would be safe. He hadn't been all that for Savina going after Hope but that girl had been damn right adamant about doing so. It was futile to try and stop her, she was protecting her friend here and she'd never back down from a chance to do so.

Stepping forward towards the entrance of the safe house he followed his small group, making one last silent prayer for the other two's safety. He'd come to like Hope in the time he'd known him, the man had stirred more respect from this group than he had managed to, even with his higher rank. Such a thing may have ticked off someone other than him, but he found himself respecting him just like the rest. The man was a born leader, and he never showed fear in the face of danger, he was brave despite their situation and not someone he wanted to lose.

With that thought, Seian walked to the entrance with the rest of his group.

...:...

High above Hope and Savina, a woman stood in the branches of one of the timeless trees, observing the sight below her. She found it so uproariously funny how nineteen Valhallans could not catch two humans, who were so piteously small in comparison. Flicking back her unnecessarily long golden blonde hair out of her face, she placed both hands on her waist and watched the hems of her knee length strapless black dress flow to the side in the wind.

Fixing up her dress, so that it fit better around her considerable buxom, she laughed to herself and said in her deep voice that seemed shockingly unfitting for her striking form, "Well, well, I guess I might as well give them a hand."

...:...

I happened so fast that Hope didn't even see it coming.

At first everything had been going all right, there were a few close calls but both him and Savina were avoiding the Valhallans well enough to not get caught. But then something fell from the trees above him and before he knew it Savina was out like a light, someone hitting her over the head so that she fell into the dark embrace of unconsciousness. And then it was his turn, but just before he was knocked senseless, he caught a glimpse of a strikingly beautiful woman, with golden blonde hair that flowed in the wind and perfect rose red lips. His last thought before it all went black was, _Lady Luck, you bitch._

* * *

><p>In my mind the blonde girl was wearing sunglasses, but she doesn't wear sunglasses, so why was she wearing them in my head. I'll think I'll make her wear sunglasses.<p>

When it comes to the name of the chapter, think dictionary term and the last sentense explains it. Also originally I was actually going to include the savrog fight in the chapter but just before I started writing I realised I can't remember how they fought. Sounds a little stupid maybe, but that is what happened.

The blonde girl in this chapter is one of my two favourite OCs in this story, the other one is Aaia Yuto, who was the girl from the end of the first chapter if you forgot. The blonde girls is called lilypad when I'm talking to 0erbayunFang, I'm not to sure how that happened but it did.

Please review, I'm going phyco with the small amount I have.

~Claire Kreiss (This is apparently my name)


	5. Saviour

_Hello readers, I'm having a love affair with a leather jacket I just bought, and my new slippers. The jacket looks exactly like the jacket Alice was wearing during the first resident evil movie, so I could use it for Cosplay of I wanted to._

_A few days before I finished this chapter I went over to my friend 0erbayunFang's place after my sister randomly came into my room and said "Get up, we're going to kill Cid." It took me a moment but I then realised she meant that Fang wanted us to come over and her help her kill Cid. Now Fang had been stuck versing Cid for quite the time, and by the time we came over she would have had about nearly twenty goes versing him. So at one point through the time we were there she got fed up with it and handed the controller to me and asked me to have a go, and, no jokes here, but the first time I versed him over her twenty, I killed him. To make it even funnier, at one point while I was versing him she asked me and my sis whether this was just like watching her play the game, my sister answered yes but I've said "yeah similar" – queue drastically deepened voice - "but I'm better than you" which as mean as that may sound it is true. I have the experience over her, and she always over-strategizes, which can be bad depending on the situation._

_Now on to things that actually have things to do with the story, the start of this chapter is taking place around the same time of the end of the last chapter and also Aaia Yuto comes back in this chappie. I've been waiting for quite a while to bring her back and now I'm finally doing it, but I'm going to have warn you that the only ones of this stories chapters I really have planned out is the next one, so updating after that may be a bit stalled because I have to plot out the story some more._

* * *

><p><strong>Saviour<strong>

Looking down from where she had her bow trained on the routes that twisted around and among the trees, Serah turned her gaze towards where a small number of women were picking vegetation from a small vegetable patch. The vegetable patch was bordered by high walls of stone and was only accessible if you travelled through a rock tunnel that led directly through the thick earthen walls. With the tunnel hidden from view by moss and vegetation that naturally covered its entrance, only those who knew it was there could find it with ease.

From her position in the branches of a tree that lay against the outside of the wall, Serah turned her eye away from the women to scan over what lay outside its perimeters. She was one of a small group charged with protecting women who came out of the safe house to harvest fruits and vegetables for cooking, and other plants used for natural medicines.

Glancing to the side, Serah spotted one of the other sentries perking up suddenly, going on to look out for something in the foliage below. Watching him with interest, she too directed her eyes down to the empty forest floor. Focusing, Serah tried to discern the existence of any sounds that may have attracted his attention. It took a time, but eventually she did hear something; a soft pitter-pattering of footsteps, but luckily for them they were light and distinctly animal.

Continuing to watch for a time, Serah soon turned her head away seeing as nothing had appeared to prove her theory wrong. The sounds vanished completely shortly after, and nothing else arose during the women's harvest of the vegetable patch. So as the women signalled up to them that they were finished, Serah and the other sentries climbed closer to the rock wall from their place within the jade leaves of the trees and waited for the women to walk through the earthen tunnel and out into the forest. When they emerged at the start of the tunnel, the sentries descended the rest of the trees' lengths until their feet hit solid ground. Readying their weapons once more just in case they were needed, the small group set off among the trees and back in the direction of the safe house.

Walking along the forest floor, Serah kept her bow partially drawn back, something that made sure she was ready to attack, but what would have been better paired up with a mind that was actually on her current whereabouts. Truth be told, her mind wasn't really where it was meant to be, not in the least. It was continuously wondering back to the last time she had been sent out with this group of women to collect from the vegetable patches. She had made the mistake of bringing Claire with her, and Claire being the Valhallan magnet she is, attracted them right to them.

Of course, while no matter what an attack from Valhallans was bad news, but they had a pinch of luck on their side with that they were halfway back from the vegetable patch and it had been easy enough to divert their attention so that most of the women and the sentries could make their way back to the safe house under the Valhallans noses. But that had been how she, Claire and Darla had been pushed to hiding in that long abandoned shack until the Valhallan had forsaken the search and departed the area.

Looking up to spy Darla walking among the small group of women encircled by the sentries, Serah couldn't help but let a small smile find its way to her lips. As terrifying as it had been at the time, something about it had become a bit of joke among her friends, not the near death experience part but just how it only added more to the saying that Claire was a Valhallan magnet, and a klutz, and that no matter how high her IQ was, she possessed no common sense whatsoever.

Sad to say but the girl had none of the natural grace of her namesake, well unless she was fighting. When she was fighting any of her less than elegant qualities seemed to all but evaporate. Serah couldn't help but think that was a jinx; her name cast upon her.

The sound of heavy footsteps broke Serah out of her thought suddenly but snapping her head up to scan the area around her; a strong feeling of foreboding settled itself in her stomach as she quickly realised that no one in their group was dumb enough to make that much noise and that none of them weighted enough for their steps to be that heavy in the first place. Also that the noises were coming from a place a fair few meters away from them, somewhere within the maze of trees surrounding them. And unlike the little pitter-pattering of footsteps they'd heard before, they were definitely, unquestionably human.

Tapping another sentry on the shoulder, he nodded in understanding, having heard the footsteps himself and signalled to rest of the group to hide as best they could within a small alcove of trees.

Peeking out from around the trees, Serah and other sentries looked over the forest for whatever created the noises. Their search was soon awarded with what it sought for, even if it was a horrible sight to behold.

The Valhallan men that they sighted were only lazing about in the midday sun, not really caring about what else lay near them, but their mountainous builds emanated the strength that they possessed. Watching them for a time, the sentries began to formulate a plan to avoid the men.

They were not even any close in distance to how close they had been to the safe house last time they had been caught out in the open like this. So the situation became considerably more dangerous than it had been last time.

Watching the group around him intently, one of the men, the same one Serah had tapped on the shoulder before, spoke up "We'll need to circle around them, take the long way back and just pray to Etro that we don't run into any more of them."

Still keeping her gaze trained on the men, Serah was about to nod to his suggestion when she saw something move in the tree branches above the men in the distance. Whatever it was it had a lithe form, and looked unmistakably feminine. In the time she was watching it, Serah saw the form yell something down to the men, and whatever they must have said caused a considerable reaction in them. They got up off the ground and instantly begun to search the area.

Had the person informed them that they were here? Biting her lip she turned back to face the small group, and spoke to the man who had made the suggestion of going the long way back to the safe house.

"Ethan, I don't think we can go by your plan that anymore, there was something in the trees just then, someone I think. But after they left the Valhallans got up and began to search for something. I think whoever was in the tree told them that we were here."

Widening his eyes at the news, Ethan tiptoed closer to Serah so that he could see what she was talking about. And sure enough, when he looked around the side of the trees he saw the Valhallans scouring the area in search.

"Damn it," he muttered, "well that derailed our plan, we can't get away without their knowledge if they're scattered about like they are, especially if they're focused on finding us."

Sneaking one more glance over at the Valhallans, Serah nodded, saying, "Right, we need another plan and currently that entails a distraction."

"Got anything in mind?" Aniette, a girl of twenty or so, who was the only other female in the group of sentries apart from Serah, spoke up.

"Yep," Serah said as she took hold of the nearest tree branch in her vicinity and hoisted herself up onto it. "I'm going to mess with them a bit."

It was a personal favourite of her Valhallan avoidance tactics. If she aimed her shot just right, it could give the appearance that it was being shot from a different direction than she was actually shooting it from. It always looked so funny when you saw all the humongous men running off in a completely different direction than you were really stationed.

But as she began to aim her arrow, something caught her eye, a person. A woman to be exact, and more than likely the one who had spoken to the Valhallans. She was standing in the branches of a tree a long way away from her, but was still slightly visible. Serah couldn't make out anything much detail-wise about her face, but was wearing a black dress with slits going up either side of the skirt, exposing her legs, the kind of legs that even from this distance had the appearance that they went on for miles. She also had what would have been knee length blonde hair if it had not been floating away from her body, propelled by the wind, and black sunglasses that adorned her face.

But as quick as Serah had spotted her she was gone, disappearing somewhere into the labyrinth of the forest. Rising her bow back up to seek out a target, Serah could help but find a sinister feeling settling itself in the back of her mind; whoever that girl was, she was bad news. She just prayed that she wouldn't speak a word of her location to the Valhallan men like she had before.

Finding the perfect target, Serah let her arrow fly, its slim form sailing through the air to find its mark in the trunk of a tree. It got the effect she wanted, with the Valhallans distracted by their search, none of them saw it until they heard it hit the tree with a loud thunk.

They all turned to see the arrow sticking out of the trees, with three white feathers attached to the end of the shaft. There was a pause for a moment, where the men did nothing but stand there and stare at it, but it ended quickly. And seeing its placement on the western side of the trunk, they all seemed to develop the thought that that was the direction the arrow had come from, so they set off west. Perfect. It was just the reaction she was hoping for.

Slipping out of the tree and landing on the ground beside the others, who were eager to get going, Serah couldn't help but let one though encroach her mind as she began to walk alongside the small group. When she shot her arrow, why did the Valhallans stare at it so strangely, like it had been a tremendously dangerous thing?

They had been travelling towards the safe house for a while when they heard a distinctive sound of a twig snapping underfoot from behind. And unlike the last time, finding what had made the noise was all too easy.

There was a man behind them. A substantially tall man, with trimmed black hair that splayed out a little around his collar and had a couple of long strands of varying lengths that hung over his right eye making up a fringe of sorts. He had a long black mark up his left arm that looked to be made up of ancient symbols and mystifying dark blue-grey eyes. While he didn't have the heavyset build that so many other men of his kind had, he was unmistakably Valhallan.

His picturesque blue eyes looked blurred and off-centre, like he wasn't completely there at the moment, but his sure movement gave nothing of the sort. His voice on the other hand did show that something was indeed, very wrong with him.

"Lyza niks itaza husko," his voice drawled on; it sounded forced in some way, and somewhat unnatural.

Letting his words hang in the air for a mere moment the man began to laugh, and the sound of it alone chilled Serah to the bone. It wasn't a nice sound, not grating or harsh, but it screamed to Serah that something bad was about to happen.

And she was right, a little too much for her own liking.

When the man stopped laughing, a smile that chilled Serah equally as much as his laugh had found its way onto his face, and in the next moment the sentries behind her were dead. Just like that, they were breathing one moment and gone forever the next, killed by some unseen force. This seemed to be extremely funny to the man, and he started laughing once more, doubling over as he tried to contain his chuckles.

And then the scene changed again; the man took Serah in a choke-hold, but didn't move to strangle her. Widening her eyes as she found herself trapped within his grasp, Serah made a desperate attempt to break his hold on her, but quickly became aware that it was too strong for her to break away from with her own strength. The man watched as Serah tried hopelessly to escape his grip and his laugh penetrated the air again; he called out madly to the remaining women who stood before them.

"Ruswa budros raiz wlatua, nas tru tranee dukan itaza stuvan abetz laiensas!"

Again he laughed the same one over and over again, as the petrified women fled the area and Serah's world went dark.

...:...

As her consciousness slowly came back to her, Serah's ears picked up the sound of people taking. But her dazed mind soon managed to realise that it was useless to try and listen in on the conversation, as it was being spoken completely in the Valhallans' native language. So she couldn't understand a lick of it. But with nothing else to do as her mind took its sweet time coming back into focus, she was left with no other choice than to listen to it, language barrier and all.

It seemed mostly like gibberish to her, but there was one word that kept popping up constantly and that piqued her curiosity. Entessa, they kept on saying. Entessa, entessa, entessa, it seemed like it was topic of their conversation or something. But what it meant, she had no idea.

Blinking her eyes open as her focus came back in full, Serah looked over the small makeshift camp she lay in, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. She was in a grove bordered by massive trees that grew into the sky and lay off to the side of a small camp-fire that was encircled by a large group of Valhallan men and every one of her limbs tied up so tight with thick coarse rope that she was left with no hope of escape. Looking over the camp once more, Serah quickly noticed that the creep that had captured her was not among them; neither was the woman she had seen briefly staring back at her when she had been aiming her arrow in the tree.

Finding how she lay on the ground increasingly irritating, Serah made the mistake of trying to get herself into a more comfortable position.

The movement caught the attention of one of the men around the fire and laughing at her slim form tied up and entirely immobile, he called out to the others around him "Ee svikcovik anasiac bitcovla"

Whatever he said must have been something humorous, or at least it seemed so to his friends, as the men around the fire began to crack up laughing when the man turned around to flash them a smile.

Swinging his head back around he smiled fiendishly at Serah, leaned in uncomfortably close and said with his tone dripping in menace, "Yue iv guomvik rie introana anasiac, dincru untundra impvla raiz emenees yue."

Fighting back the urge to flinch as the man stared down at her, Serah tried as hard as she could to keep the overwhelming fear she felt flood her body at bay as her dire circumstances began to sink in, showing on her features. Some unexplainable instinct told that showing such an emotion to these men in front of her wouldn't end well for her. But some amounts of it still seeped through to show on her face, where it gleamed in her cerulean eyes. But that couldn't be helped, not when she was this scared.

By the end of the night, it became unknown to even her how she had kept all her fear locked up in her body, with only trace mounts showing themselves to the outside world. All she knew was that it had been a long, long time indeed, since she was this overcome with such a helpless devastating sense of heartfelt fear.

That morning was the start of a nightmare.

She had been roused harshly from a fitful sleep, and once the ties that bound her legs were undone forced to march alongside the fearsome men through the massive forest. The men walked in a formation that kept Serah encircled by all of them giving her no chance, not even a slight hope of being able to escape past their burly forms.

For hours they trekked across the forest floor, walking in almost complete silence, excluding the rare comments the Valhallans made to one another as the minutes pasted. They all but ignored Serah; there was a grunt or hand movement to direct her every once in a while but nothing more, so she was left with nothing other than the option of listening to her currently turbulent thoughts. Her mind tried to make sense of why she had been captured instead of killed, like the others were. She knew that while uncommon it wasn't unheard of for the Valhallans to kidnap people, but that didn't necessarily explain why it had been her they'd taken, it didn't even begin to. What was different about her that made them decided to take her above everyone else? She could ponder the subject for hours, but Serah had a feeling that the answer wasn't going to make itself known any time soon.

On and on they walked, taking a couple of minutes off their walk sometime after midday, to take a short breather and to eat something, from which Serah only received the equivalent of crumbs to ease what was getting to be a ravenous hunger, having last ate around twenty-four hours ago. The journey was then started up again, eating up another few hours of the day until they came upon the edge of the forest. At the forest's edge a grand plain stretched onwards, all the way until it touched the horizon, its end not even visible for the eyes to see. Stepping into the long strands of grass that decorated the land all around them a beautiful emerald green, a handful of the Valhallan men craned their neck skyward to view the position of the sun, aiming to figure out the direction they needed to head in. When they lowered their heads one of them motioned to the north-east and called out in his own language some words whose meaning was lost on Serah, but she presumed that he was only telling them which way they needed to go.

They trekked on into the hours when darkness had descended overhead, and the sounds of various night animals could be heard from all around them. After a time the Valhallans settled in for the night and went to sleep one after the other, leaving only one awake to keep an eye on their captive, just like they had the previous night.

But quite the contrary to going to sleep herself, Serah remained awake; with her legs rebound she lay on her back staring up at the pitch-black sky painted with stars. Her thoughts refused to let her fall asleep just yet; they rested on the surface of her mind, reminding her of the past. The plain she lay in right now was one she remembered very well; she had crossed it when she and her friends had left the site of Cocoon's fall to go to New Bodhum, a village they had built with their own hands. They had sought to live by the sea, like they had while living on Cocoon, so they had found suitable land and built the village upon it. It had been beautiful to say the least and she herself had absolutely loved it there, but after five years of living there the coming of the Valhallans to Pulse had forced them to relocate. They seemed to favour the area New Bodhum was located, so it swiftly became too dangerous to stay there and it became one of the most foolhardy things in the world to even let the thought into your head. So they came to Mynscentar forest; it was much less open than New Bodhum so it created a great natural hiding place and was drastically less prone to being occupied by Valhallans.

But she'd always miss New Bodhum, not saying that the forest wasn't beautiful, but she'd always miss the sight of the sparkling blue sea with waves ebbing up to meet the grand expanse of golden sand. Plus there was a sentimental side to her love of the place, other than the fact that its namesake was of the place she had grown up in, it was the last place she had lived where her sister was with her.

Serah bit her lip when she thought of that, and did her best to ignore the tear that fell from her eye involuntarily. That was another thing she had spent over a decade missing, her sister.

Wiping the tear away from her face, Serah rolled onto her side, thinking that if her mind was going to take that path with her train of thoughts she'd rather not listen to it. So she closed her eyes against the world and eventually, sleep did find her, but it wasn't a restful one.

The next day was very alike the previous one: it enclosed a journey across the plain, broken up with only two breaks in all, and by the end of the night there was still more of the plain to traverse.

This was something that reminded Serah just how little of the plain she had actually travelled when she'd first crossed it when going to New Bodhum as opposed to when she did for Mynscentar, it was a mere fraction.

The next day and the next day after that went along in a similar fashion as well. It was only on the fifth day of her being held captive by the Valhallans did something differ from the otherwise mundane journey. They at last reached the end of the monstrously-sized plain and Serah almost at once began to recognise the land around them. And after only a couple of minutes of travelling through semi rocky terrain, she smelt something a little different in the air.

It was the smell of the ocean.

...:...

Blearily opening his eyes to the sight of a sun shining brightly above him, Hope promptly closed them again to block out the unexpected light.

Since he and Savina had been knocked out by that woman who had yet to make her appearance again, they had both regained consciousness sometime before the hours of twilight, but with all their limbs bound tight. The following morning they had been gruffly made to travel along with the large group of fierce men from the forest and out into a plain that had seemed like it would go on forever, although Hope knew that was not the truth having traversed the plain before. They had remained on the plain for a couple of days, the Valhallans treating both him and Savina harshly without proper reason all the while. But what Hope presumed to be last night; he had grown fed up with the treatment and tried to escape. He would have succeeded too, had a lone Valhallan not woken up in the middle of the night and caught him in the act, and proceeded to knock him unconscious.

Eyes fluttering open again, Hope strived to keep them open long enough in the light so he could figure out the approximate time. Seeing how high the sun had risen, he guessed that he must have been out for quite a few hours; it would have been just past midnight when he had been knocked and now the sun was nearly in the middle of the sky. He grimaced when he realised that; being unconscious that long could never be good for you.

Raising himself off the ground slightly so that he was no longer in the way of the sun's rays, Hope noticed that amazingly for the first time in five days, he was no longer tied up. But something about the situation only served to make him suspicious. And casting a quick glance around the grassy, semi-rocky area, Hope failed to set eyes on anyone until a voice called to him from his left.

" Is Prince Charming's awake, I see."

Following the sound of the voice, Hope found a person sitting in the branches of a tree that had its root dug into the ground to his left. He recognised her instantly as the blonde woman from before who had knocked him out. She was sitting there casually laying her back against the trunk of the tree with one leg crossed over the other. Seeing her clearly now as opposed to the fleeting look of her he'd seen five days ago, hope was able to take in her appearance properly.

She was amazingly tall for a woman, daring to come close to Snow's height, height she only added to with a pair of thigh high, black glossy high heeled boots, one of which had a string wrapped around it that had heavenly white feather attached to random places along it. Her body was toned to perfection, her limbs long and held gracefully without much thought. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses that were shaped like upside trapeziums, but her lips like he'd noticed before were full in shape and had the colour of a heavenly rose. Her golden blonde hair that was ridiculously long and blew all around her in the wind was thick and tremendously wavy, bordering on curly. She wore a black dress that had no straps, apart from a chain that wrapped itself around her neck and connected to the left and right side of her bust. It had twin slits up the sides of the skirt and three green stripes that resembled claw marks which started on the skirt's bottom right corner. And on her arm, exactly like the Valhallan man that had found him and Savina back at the base, she bore a brand made of black, ancient-looking symbols.

From her position in the tree she smirked at Hope, an expression that seemed exceedingly natural on her face and enquired, "Well is Prince Charming going to even ask what he's doing in the middle of nowhere with no one in sight but mwa and completely unbound?"

Using the time after her question to let his confused mind attempt to create a coherent thought, Hope eventually asked her, "Who are you?"

Chuckling a little at his question, the woman got up from her spot on the branch and stood up, talking more to herself than to Hope, "Wasn't really the query I was after but I reckon it will do."

Sliding her right hand off where she had it placed on the trunk of the tree, the woman jumped off from the branch without a thought to how much the landing would hurt from the height she was at.

But she landed perfectly on her feet without a sign of pain, and observing the jump from where he sat on the ground, Hope thought that he may have seen before she hit the ground a barrier of sorts that broke her fall.

Walking closer to Hope the woman came to a stop right in front of him. Placing hand on her hip, she stared down at him, looking over him intently.

"Now, Prince Charming, to answer the inquiry you've yet to vocalise, you have been left here for the time being, the brutes that call themselves "men", have found that friend of yours to be of more amusement than you." Pausing for a second she tacked on in more a mumble, "Or important, either fucking one I don't really give a shit."

Pausing once more she began to pace around the ground absent-mindedly, and like the smirk it seemed like it was something she did a lot. When she was pacing Hope had the distant thought of trying to make a run for it when her back was turned and her eyes were off him, but some instinct told that even if he utilised all his military training that he wouldn't be able to escape this women. She had the air of a person who could be immensely dangerous when she wanted to be.

Halting her pace, she drew closer to Hope from where her pacing had taken her away from him. Facing his front she leaned in closer, picking her sun glasses up with her slender fingers and pulling them away from her face, revealing her deep blue eyes. Looking in to their mesmerising depths from where they were situated right in front of his face, Hope was taken aback by a striking sense of familiarity the eyes unearthed in him.

"Now to answer the question you did vocalise," the woman spoke, "who I am is not important to you, not what I am called or anything in relation to myself. I am just a person who holds enough power over those brutes that they will listen to just about my every word, but personally I imagine it's because I strike fright in them rather than because of how high, let's say my hypothetical rank among them is. So as far as your concerned with me, I'm just a Lily pad"

It was when Hope was looking into those deep blue eyes did the warning told to him in the past by the Valhallan man back at the base come back to him. "If you value your life avoid the blonde haired girl, with her you'll meet your death." He could only pray that luck would favour him today, seeing as this girl matched that description perfectly, dangerous aura and all.

A smirk found its way onto the woman's face again, and completely unaffected by her last less-than-sane nickname she'd bestowed upon herself, she articulated to Hope, ignoring the look he sent her way, "But I can imagine even easier that your mind is no longer putting the want for that information first, and that you now want to know of your friend's situation, but alas that is not information I hold. With me not being within the area she is I could not tell you what is actually happening to her. I could not but hypothesise, but what I could hypothesise is not a nice occurrence, for her at least. So maybe that is something you'd rather not hear."

Straightening up to stand at her full height, which made her tower over Hope from where he sat on the ground, she walked around him and suddenly stamped down excruciatingly hard on his hands from where they were placed on the ground behind him, pinning them to the earth with one of her high heels. Putting her sun-glasses back on her face, she drawled on with laughter evident in her voice, "You know what? I'm downright ashamed that a high ranking military person like yourself didn't even attempt to make a run for it. I gave you ample chances did I not? Or did you have enough sense in your body to tell you that I would indefinitely catch you if you tried. Because I'd much rather that explanation over cowardice, I can't stand cowards you know, they always beg for mercy that I'd never even give a thought to bestowing upon them. So then Prince Charming, which one is it? I'm dying to know." she added sarcastically.

Wincing as a fresh wave of pain radiated from where she was digging his hands into the dirt with the pressure of her high heels, Hope tried to give an answer, but found it challenging as something about the women's aura was sealing his lips shut. After some time he managed to get out a simple, "Sense"

Easing the pressure off of his hands slightly, the women made an 'hm' sound that was followed with the words "I'm impressed you can still talk, even if was such a pitiful effort like that. Most people can't make the slightest sound, let alone move. But let us see what happens when we up the ante."

Lifting her feet away from Hope's hand, she sidestepped and placed her left hand on his shoulder for a moment before sliding it off and walking back to the front of him and into his line of sight. Instantly Hope felt something change, his body became stock still and no matter hard he urged it, it wouldn't budge. His sight started to blur until the women in front of him resembled that of a child's painting, and he felt his consciousness begin to drift away. But he was still able to make out the woman's words.

She was obviously speaking to herself.

"Oh and Prince Charming here was doing so great, been a long time since I got someone like him to mess with. Guess he's just a few steps ahead of the other buggers, but I suppose he's still not good enough to withstand all I had to throw at him. At least he did better than that friend of his."

That was the last Hope heard before the world disappeared before his eyes.

...:...

Sitting in the branches of a tree and hidden behind bushel's jade painted leaves, Aaia Yuto watched on as a bunch of lanky men dragged Serah along with them through the semi-rocky terrain below her. Tapping her fingers on the branch above her absent-mindedly, she waited until they had passed her. Blowing out a sigh, she decided that she should probably cut her lazy act and actually help her instead of sitting back and observing her before those oafs really do something to legitimately hurt her.

Standing, she felt about for a better grip on the branch above her, and endeavoured to follow the trail of tree tops until she got to the front of the men. Hopefully, and she was pretty sure she could, she could get to the front of them without alerting them to her presence.

Lucky they were just a lot of brainless oafs.

...:...

In the last few hours something had snapped in Serah, be it that she was angry that these men had infested the place that meant the most to her on Pulse or that she was just simply fed up with being led around like she was, but at every order they gave her now, she disobeyed them and she had struggled in her constraints until the rope had rubbed her skin raw and then some. All she knew was that she wasn't going to stand for being these men's captive any longer, even if the rational part of her mind kept on telling her that her struggling would amount to nothing with her mediocre strength against the Valhallans' monstrous ones. But that didn't stop her from trying.

After a few more minutes of struggling, Serah heard the noises of something rustling in the trees from overhead. The noise confused her slightly, by the volume of it, it definitely wasn't something small, but that was strange as most monster were too scared to come near the Valhallans. It had been how they had gone through five days of travelling across Pulse with nary a hustle. So what was in the trees then?

Her answer came in the form of the path in front of them bursting into flames.

From the trees tops dropped down a cloaked form, one obviously possessed by a female, garbed entirely in black with a bandanna with golden marking that matched the ones on her cloak covering most of her face. A laugh sounded from her as the girl straightened herself up from her drop down position and stood up in front of the burning fire.

"Amesu dei wena kaku nata mabu, mabu?" a beautiful sounding, exotic accented voice said in a questioning tone.

Serah noticed looks of confusion settling themselves on the faces of the men around her at the girl's words when she cast her eyes about them, and it was only after a moment of thought that she figured out why. She'd spent the past five days surrounded by these men, hearing them speak their language among themselves, and when she compared their words to the ones spoken by the girl in front of her she realised, that the girl was in fact speaking an entirely different language.

The girl laughed again, placed her hands on her hips, and blew out a sigh, speaking up again to the confused men in the same language she had spoken in before.

"Bakei fucking foso sarube wa amesu dei wena nata anuka tekuro wakishika."

Serah's face acquired a perplexed expression at the utterance of those words. Was it just her, or was there something a little off with that sentence? She didn't legitimately hear that swear did she?

She didn't have time to contemplate the thought as the girl moved from her spot at an alarming rate and disappeared from her sights for a flash only to reappear behind one of the huge Valhallan men a few paces behind her, where she progressed to give him a swift and hard knock to the back of his head making him fall to the ground senseless. From there she moved about the clearing and dealing out the other men similar fates, all the while evading them with a level of speed that Serah hadn't blinked an eye at before. Watching the girl with an intense sense of interest, Serah felt her bounds tighten some, and twisted her head to see a Valhallan man had gripped them in his free hand, the other occupied with a sword. But whatever the man had hoped to do by making sure to keep her close it soon proved useless when Serah felt heat radiating off the ropes tied around her arms. Tilting her head as much as she could she became aware that portions of them had been set alight and the man quickly let go to stop himself from getting burned.

Stepping away from Serah, the man failed to notice the distinct sound of light foot steps to the right of him and within moments he was on the ground unconscious, the mysterious girl standing over him, the blunt of a peculiar looking short sword bared before her. The flames that existed on Serah bounds went out and it soon became apparent that they were the only ones in the clearing that were still conscious.

Putting her sword back into a sheath that rested on her left thigh and was attached to her by a belt on her waist, the girl dusted herself off and flicked her long black hair out of her eyes. She then began rubbing her left fist like it was hurting while mumbling herself in her accented voice, "Damn it, how fucking hard do those oafs' skulls have to be to hurt my hands this much?"

Flicking her eyes over the girl fleetingly, Serah looked over the clearing, finding it so bizarre to see the huge men that had been such a daunting sight for so long limp and useless on the ground. Taken down by a girl who looked no older than sixteen no less.

Redirecting her gaze towards the girl in question, Serah, took in her features. She was beautiful to say the least, absolutely beautiful, with straight jet hair trailing down her back and ending at her waist. The hair looked to have the consistency of silk, and had a section of it tied up high and cut considerably shorter than the rest, its evenly cut ends only coming to her neck. Her dress was of a simple design, all black, short and strapless with brownish fur trimming the bust and a segment missing from over the sternum, exposing skin that otherwise would be covered. The segment was rectangular in shape except for the tip which was curved upwards in a triangular like fashion to follow the contour of her breasts. There were silver armour plates on her thighs and shin of either leg, which had decorative details etched into them. A similar plate was fastened to her left shoulder and she wore black gloves that came up to just below her shoulder, which had metal pieces sewn into them, which on her hands were similar in shape to bones and along the arms were three long pieces on the topside and bottom side on both gloves. On her feet she wore no shoes apart from fabric that was latched onto the top of them. The colour of her eyes was not visible from the way she held her head, but if Serah was seeing them right her lips were such a pretty colour of rosy pink. And on her ears dangled a pair of jagged crystal earrings from which three heavenly white feathers hung off.

Unexpectedly, Serah saw the girl's head shoot up, where she kept it watching straight ahead for a second before glancing to both ends of the clearing where the path ended and where it picked up again. Without turning her head back to look at her the girl spoke up to Serah, "We better get out of here, some of those men are still using this path."

Nodding, Serah asked her, "Where to then?" There weren't many places to go around here.

"Where else?" she girl answered with a hint of playfulness in her voice, as she stepped over to the group of trees that lined the clearing and gestured for Serah to come closer by holding out her hand for her to take.

Unsureness settled itself around her for a moment but Serah quickly banished it with a shake of her head and walked forward to take the girl's hand in her own. As quickly as she had placed it there she wished she hadn't, the girl in front of her had a mischievous smile on her face that couldn't mean her any good.

Standing stationary for a second or so, the girl suddenly lurched backwards, taking Serah with her. Within moments Serah found herself being pulled through the trees with the black haired girl only to come out the other side in a drastically different environment, a beach.

A beach with golden-white sand and waves consistently lapping up to the shore, and where a setting sun painted the sea red, orange and yellow. Feeling the girl let go of her hand Serah let the sun take her attention away from the beach. She hadn't realised it had gotten so late in the day, she was a little too distracted by her want to escape, but of course, lucky for her, someone had granted her that freedom. But who were they?

Turning her head back downwards so she could see the girl she was about to question Serah was met with a sight that she surely hadn't expected.

The girl was lying in the shallows of the water on her back, all of her armour plates abandoned upon the sand. Her eyes were closed and she had a serene expression on her face, just feeling the waves wash by her. Watching her curiously, Serah noted her dark, long eye lashes that rested on her cheeks since her eyes were closed; they created an exotic look that matched her accented voice.

Glancing down at the armour plates on the shore and then back to the girl; Serah asked her curiously, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not quite sure," the girl answered. "I just like the feel of the water, where I come from it's not the smartest thing to go near, so I am taking advantage of it now."

"Where do you come from?" Serah asked, the girl's previous statement had piqued her curiosity. Where could she have come from that water was dangerous?

"Nowhere special," the girl replied.

"What's your name, then?" Serah probed, seeing how her query had been shot down.

"It's of no importance." the girl told Serah, finally opening her back up to stare up at the sky above, "and I won't tell to you if you bribe me with yours, I already know it anyway."

"What?" Serah exclaimed. Sure, it made _perfect_ sense that a random girl she had never met before knew her name. "How do you know my name?"

"A little birdy told me." the girl quipped with a smile on her face. Sitting up in the water and crossing her legs, she voiced to the woman behind her, dropping their last subject, "But, um, can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" Serah sounded, figuring that the girl wasn't about to answer anything she asked any time soon.

"What colour's the water?"

"What?" Serah said incredulously. "Blue, but why do you have to ask me that?"

Ignoring her question, the girl jumped up and suddenly yelled out in a voice drastically deepened from her normal one, "Holy shit, it's blue!"

Twisting back around, she looked Serah in the eyes and told her, "And back to saner things now, but to answer your question let's just say that colour is something long lost on me."

Serah was about to query the meaning of that sentence, when it hit her as she looked in to the girls grey eyes.

The girl who had single-handedly defeated over twenty Valhallan men who were anything but weak and saved her, led her seamlessly through a group of tightly-packed-together trees and onto this beach without hitting a single one, was blind.

* * *

><p><em>And done, I have to say but Aaia and Lily pad would have to be my favourite OCs in this story, and as you'll notice, if you already haven't, they're bat fuck insane, just like me.<em>

_I really like the way Lily pad talks, and if anyone's wondering but I'm not too sure why she was calling Hope Prince Charming, it may be because the Valhallans called Serah Sleeping Beauty, in their language of course, but otherwise I'm a blank. My mind was just telling me that she wasn't calling him by his name but something really weird, so it became that._

_Also, just so you know, but the heels on lily pad's boots are five inches, which is probably more easier to imagine how big that is if your a girl and have a high heel obseesion like me, or are just good with sizes and such. For anyone who can't really imagine it five iches is about 10 centimetres, and seeing as lily pad is 192 cm tall, with an extra ten cm she becomes as tall as snow._

_I don't think this is going to be updated for a while because for one I direly need to plot it out more and I think I might get all the analects in ffxiii, cuz it will help with some of the plotlines involving Etro and the like and I've been interested in getting them all ever since I first got one. Also I'm doing a picture of Aaia right now and it looks very much like her, I'm up to colouring it now but when I'm done I'm going to put it on my deviantART account __**seeker-of-the-skys, **__so your free to look at it if you want._

_Remember to leave me a review; it'd be dearly appreciated, as would con-crit_

_Sayonara for now._

_~Claire Kreiss_


	6. Nightmares beginning

_Holy shit! what's this an update!_

_I'm so very sorry that I haven't updated in so long, I don't even have a good excuse. It was mostly just my own laziness, the fact that I got addicted to reading Inuyasha manga, I found Kingdom Hearts birth by sleep and have been playing that and that I was originally trying to write a chapter for my KH story and I just couldn't write it no matter how hard I tried. Put together most of it was just me getting distracted, which is no excuse for me not updating in three months._

I really hope you enjoy the chapter and forgive me for not updating in so long.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy Square Enix does**

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><p><em><strong>Nightmares beginning<strong>_

Staring at the black haired girl in disbelief, Serah's mind tried to make sense of what seemed to be an impossibility. She was blind. That much was clear, but all it did for Serah was confuse her even more about how she had done what had been unfeasible for some of the strongest men she knew who had perfect sight. And all the while the world around her was nothing but darkness to her.

"You're blind." she muttered in the sheer disbelief of it. Even as she said it felt wrong, like it didn't matter what her eyes were telling her; it just couldn't be possible. But the evidence was right in front of her eyes, so how could she deny it?

"So you noticed," the girl said casually, like she found it funny that Serah thought it so bizarre. Placing a hand on her hips the girl walked closer to Serah and back on to the shore to retrieve her armour. Sitting upon a decently sized rock that dotted the sand, she picked up each part of her armour plates and replaced them back on her body one by one, leaving the shoulder guard for last. Fingering the black bandana that now played about her neck since she'd pulled it down from covering her face after the brief fight with the Valhallans, she laughed at Serah's behaviour "You really find it so weird don't you, that I can't see?"

"Of course I do!" Serah blurted out. "All of the strongest people I know put together couldn't have done what I saw you do and they can see perfectly, yet you can't at all and you took those men out in seconds!"

Looking up at her, the girl hummed to herself, "Guess I'm just a little different from those people you know then. Just guessing here, but I don't think any of them has the ability to summon fire out of nothing." Pushing her hair back behind her shoulder from where it had fallen to over her front, the girl got up off the rock and up onto her feet. From there she walked further down the beach and away from Serah but stopped not too far away and stood stock still, digging her toes into the sand. Despite her sudden stillness there was nothing in the way she held herself that portrayed that she sensed any danger in the immediate area. If anything, she looked relaxed.

Staring at her tall figure Serah tried to make sense of her, a hard task to achieve. She was a magic user, she'd made that clear by all the fire she'd created during the fight and by her own admittance of it and that in itself was something to be viewed as strange. It wasn't every day that you met someone with such powers. She had speed beyond the realm of what would be viewed as normal, or human for that matter. As well as amazing skill when it came to fighting, a true master of battle must have taught her sometime in her life so that she could have achieved such effortless perfection in battle at such a young age. But what confused her most was beyond the shadow of a doubt: the fact the girl could achieve such dominance in battle whilst not being able to see her opponents.

She had met blind people before in her life but never before had she seen one so sure of their movements that it went beyond the border of impossible.

A sound from the girl broke her away from her thoughts. Focusing back on the present she saw that she was doing no more than humming to herself like she had done when she was sitting on the rock.

"Is it because I confuse you that you have been looking at me?" she asked without turning around to look at Serah.

Becoming more perplexed, if that was even possible, Serah questioned the girl, finding no potential way that she could have known she was being stared at. "How did you know I was staring at you?"

"Same way I know where I'm going and that there was more of those buffoons coming down the path when I led you off it: a little birdy told me," she answered with a laugh.

"Going back to that excuse, are we?" Serah mumbled, conceding that she wouldn't be getting the explanations she dearly wanted off this girl, seeing as she always seemed to have some sort of excuse up her sleeve.

"It's a personal favourite," the girl said, knowing that Serah expected no response from her. Walking forward once again she only took a handful of steps before halting again. Twisting backwards she held out her hand and gestured for Serah to follow her. "You going to come or what? I doubt you have any other business to attend to here."

Grumbling to herself, Serah began to follow the girl as she reinstated her path forward. Why was it only now that she realised the girl was blind that her mind registered that when she looked about her eyes never focused on anything? Pondering the thought she did her best to keep up with the girl as she went about her fast gait up the shore.

...:...

Watching on as groups of Valhallan men lazed about in the small deserted town, a slim black haired man stood tall amongst his own kind. Despite what his outward appearance would have led you to believe, he was of Valhallan blood just like the men that surrounded him. His comparatively slimmer form made an odd sight next to the bulky forms of the others but that was not a difference you would take into account when faced with him. Aura alone proved who was dominant, and he won by a long shot.

Grey-blue eyes stared out from behind a side fringe on the right side of his face and scanned the expanse he stood in. It'd been awhile since he had stepped foot in this town and in his opinion of it hadn't changed much in the time he had spent in the Mynscentar forest, but it was unlikely to him that it would change much when he left. The place had been in Valhallan occupation for roughly about the entire time that they had been in this world so he hardly thought that that was going to change any time soon.

Stepping forward he began to walk towards the most prominent structure of the town. It was a decently sized building that enclosed a large front room and a detached bedroom, though it didn't seem to him that it had been primarily used as a house.

Walking up a small set of stairs that led to its front doors he walked inside. Spotting the man he was looking for slouching over a lounge that looked like it had seen better days, he approached him with a dark smile settling itself on his lips.

"Vitzca, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to that prisoner of mine that I left in your – and that group of yours' – hands, would you?" he asked darkly, his tone dripping in a friendliness that anyone else may have mistaken for genuine, but the man sitting down in front of him knew better than to be that naïve.

Snapping to attention at the sound of the voice, Vitzca sat up dead straight and locked his gaze with the man standing over him pleadingly. "Please Sir," he whimpered, knowing that the man would have only come here to ask him such a question if he already knew that the prisoner that had been left in his care had escaped. "It wasn't my fault that she escaped! Someone attacked us, we barely got the chance to see who they were before they knocked us unconscious! Please don't hurt me, Sir, it wasn't my fault!" he begged, knowing the futileness of the act.

Laughing darkly at the cowering Vitzca, the man leaned over him. "Someone attacked you, you say. I'm just going to guess here, but when you say someone you mean a single person, so you're saying an entire group of men fell to a single opponent?"

Still whimpering in fright, Vitzca continued to cower from the man standing above him. "Don't hurt me," He whispered in a last ditch attempt.

"Ho ho, if only if it was that simple my good man. You see the order to capture that prisoner came directly from the Untundra himself, so seeing that you let her escape he isn't very happy about it and has let me know so. And believe you me, it didn't take him long to give the order to see to it that you and that little group of yours received the punishment you all deserve."

He let the last line hang in the air a moment, a dark grin placing itself upon his lips, promising the torment that was to come.

"Oh, there's one last thing I wish to impart to you," he said menacingly.

Drawing in close to Vitzca he drew a sabre from a sheath at his side and pressed it close to his neck.

"You are the last of your group who still breathes."

Screams of agony resonating from the building and floated across the small town.

The torturous sounds caught the attention of every man within hearing range, freezing them in the middle of whatever they were doing to listen on as the man's yells became more and more subdued, until silence reigned again.

Watching as the black haired man walked out of the building and wiped his sabre clean on the grass outside before sheathing it, they averted their gazes from him whenever he drew close to one of them.

But they knew he was aware of the stares, nothing ever evaded his sights.

Treading away from the town and into the forest beyond it, the black haired man walked out of view of all the men that persisted staring at him. He was well aware that he was always stared at when in this village, or around any of the men as a whole, but it didn't bother him much. They thought him a psycho, even by their standards, and they were right. He wasn't bothered by anything he had to do if it was to serve Untundra, hence he had no limits as to what he would do.

Most Valhallan men killed the inhabitants of this land without much thought, but it was the opposite when it came to their own kind. It was an upmost sin to kill another Valhallan, but his mind had never paid attention to that, so killing another Valhallan was no problem for him. It was a reason why Untundra liked him so much, because he could be put to so many uses that the others never could.

So of course when the blundering fools had let a prisoner whose capture had been ordered directly from Untundra escape, he was the one asked to punish them.

Though on the topic of people Untundra wanted captured, he could concede that they at least still had two of them in their grasp, one of which Untundra had valued so highly a captive that he had ordered her taken directly to him. But one still remained here, under the watchful eye of that psycho woman at that.

So it didn't matter too much that one had escaped, she could most likely be re-captured later anyway, it wasn't like she could get very far away from them in her current situation. But before making an attempt to find her he thought that he might as well go check up on their other prisoner, to see how he was faring being watched by that psycho.

He thought it funny that the men found him so much more disturbing than that woman. Because when it really came down to it, if he was considered a madman, then he was but a candle to an inferno when compared to that woman.

...:...

Following the black haired girl's brisk pace had long since began to tired Serah out. It wasn't to say she was unfit, but the girl in front of her was something else entirely. It was like she could go on forever without having to pay a single thought to fatigue. Though Serah doubted that that was truly a possible feat, the girl was yet to show any signs that this fast pace was having any effect on her.

Pulling to a stop suddenly Serah bent over double, placing her hands on her knees as she tried as best she could to get her breathing back to normal. She was near certain that simply walking had never taken this kind of toll of her before. Though it probably didn't help that the past few days previous had been spent trekking across a giant plain for hours straight and the sun above was far hotter than she was used to in all her time spent in the underground safe house and Mynscentar forest's shade.

She heard the sound of footsteps pad across the sand. Serah looked up to see the girl starring down at her, with a damned smile on her face that screamed that she found Serah's exhaustion funny in all kinds of ways no less.

"Tired, are we?" she questioned in that exotically accented voice of hers with a humorous tone that the smile on her face already showed she felt.

Straightening up in place of answering her question Serah replied with, "How in the world can you keep up that pace for so long?"

Genuinely laughing at Serah questioning, the girl shrugged, "If I knew I would tell you, but alas I don't have the answer. It's just something I've always been able to do, but I have to give it to you, you've done better to keep up with me than some people from where I come from, and that's saying something."

"That so?" Serah mumbled as she let herself sit down on the sand to rest. All the girl's last sentence had managed to do for her was intrigue even more as to who in the world she was and where she came from.

Moving away from the sitting Serah and closer to the line of trees the girl said casually, "You can rest here for a while if you want. I'll keep watch."

Letting her gaze wonder to the girl, Serah couldn't help but let slip out, "Just asking but how exactly can you keep watch?"

"I can because if there's anything in the area that could be dangerous or of interest a little birdy tells me."

It took all of Serah will not to go up to the nearest tree and hit her head against it. "Can you please stop saying 'little birdy' and be a little bit more specific please?" she half complained, half begged.

"Nope," was the girl's lightning-fast answer.

They rested there for roughly another half hour before setting off again down the beach. It was quickly noticeable to Serah that the girl had, or at least seemed to have, a clear destination in mind but where that was she had no idea.

After another few minutes, curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"Personally I have no idea; I haven't been down this way before. But a little birdy keeps on telling me that there is something around here that I have to see. I have an inkling that it is a person but they won't tell me."

Resisting the feeling to hit her head at the 'little birdy' comment again Serah blurted out, "You don't know where you're going!"

"Not entirely. I wouldn't say that I don't know where I'm going because I certainly know where I want to end up. It's just that I've never been there before, so how could I know where I'm taking you? I'm relying on the little birdy to take me there."

That sounded weird but she thought she had it down. So this girl knew where her destination was but had never been there before so she couldn't say she knew the place. That she got, but what in the world was the 'little birdy'?

Still trying to make sense of the thought Serah was abruptly made to halt when the girl suddenly came to a unannounced stop. Carefully taking a few steps forward so that she drew to the girl's side, Serah asked her, "Why are we stopping?"

Without answering her question the girl posed another one: "Serah, do you recognise this place?"

"Wah?" Serah was about to interrogate her further on the sudden question when her attention was drawn away from the girl and to the area they now stood. She did recognise it, she had just been too distracted by her thoughts to notice it sooner. But now that seemed so stupid to her, because how could she not recognise this place?

Walking onward a couple of more steps so that she stood in front of the girl, Serah peered ahead of them. The place that met her eyes was easily more than a couple hundred metres away but that didn't matter to her eyes. She knew this place.

"That's new Bodhum," she whispered.

Hearing the girl as she came closer until they stood side by side, the girl asked her "So you do know this place then. How come?"

"This is the place I lived after the fall of Cocoon," Serah told her, a distraught emotion taking control of her voice. There were a lot of emotions that came along with seeing the place after so many years, but the one that came out on top was sadness.

Oh goddess, the place was infested.

There were Valhallan men everywhere she looked, they filled every nook and cranny that was visible to the eye. It was a horrible sight.

"They're there aren't they?" the girl said from behind her. "Those idiotic oafs, they're everywhere over there."

"Yes." Serah answered sadly.

"And you don't want them there," she said, but not as a question.

"I want them away from this place," Serah told her, not entirely sure why the girl had voiced such.

"Then that's easily fixed." the girl said, rising her arm high so that it came up to chest height and pointing it in the direction of New Bodhum.

Confused by the action Serah failed to make sense of it. That was until she noticed the air around them turn deadly cold and the water in the vicinity of New Bodhum turn to ice. Seeing the change of the water the Valhallan men by the beach panicked. Clearly knowing what was going to happen next came faster to them than it did Serah.

But the next instant left no time for her to ponder it, as it explained it all.

The ice shot out from the sea in great waves, working themselves around the shore and beyond to the houses. Every man the great shards passed were captured in an ice prison and frozen solid. Snapping her head to the side to view the girl, Serah watched as she looked ahead with great focus, despite that her eyes did not see what she was unleashing upon the Valhallan men in the town.

Turning slowly to view the scene of the deadly ice prison that now existed over the expanse of New Bodhum, Serah noted that no Valhallan men within moved, they were all encased in ice.

Lowering her arm, the girl moved from her spot and went sidewards towards the trees by their side.

"What'll happen to them?" Serah asked her.

"They'll die like that," The girl answered with nothing in her voice giving away that their death at her hands meant anything to her.

That shook Serah, but more than that, it was because she found that she didn't care if those men died than the fact that the girl could end their lives with nary a thought.

Following the girl in the direction of the trees, she asked her, "Where are you going now?"

"What I'm looking for is not in that town, but it's close. I am looking for that."

Walking down the same path as the one the girl took through the trees Serah soon found herself back on the dirt path that the girl had taken her away from some time ago now. It was considerably thinner in width than when she left it and only got thinner as it got closer to the town until it stopped and the land transformed into groups of rock formation through which different routes could be used to get to town.

Standing by the girl for a moment as she figured out which way to go, Serah gave the land a look over. It was forested area with the small dirt path marring what would otherwise, pure scrubland.

"They're over there." the girl spoke up suddenly.

"Who?"

"People, I can hear them, but it seems that one of them is leaving. It'd be best that you look out for them as we get closer, under these circumstances I wouldn't call them a friend."

"Kay," Serah responded as she took up a position beside the girl as they stepped into the heavily-forested area beside the path. After a time of tracking though the bushes, Serah picked up to the sounds of people talking like the girl had before.

She could hear the voice of a man talking to someone, there was a menacing tone to his voice that made her thank the goddess that she wasn't the other person in the conversation. But that wasn't the only thought that crept into her mind, it was simply the more benevolent one.

"I know that voice," She whispered.

"From where?" The girl questioned her.

"He was the man that captured me."

The girl froze in her tracks abruptly hissing out, "Shit, that's where I've heard that voice before. I've met him before, that guy's bad news in just about any situation these days." Gesturing for Serah to stay where she was she told her firmly, "You stay here, if you come with me you only run the chance of getting hurt."

"Why are you going towards them if you know they could hurt you then?"

"Because the person with him is a prisoner. I'd be a stone cold bitch if I didn't try to help someone in those circumstances, especially if they're under that man's watch."

With that she disappeared into the trees above and left Serah all alone in the span of green forest.

...:...

Holding his gaze with a Valhallan man with black hair, Hope held his silence.

This man's aura spewed forth menace and his every action gave away that he was dangerous in every sense of the word. It came as a surprise to Hope that the man knew English, having only once before heard a Valhallan speak in it, but it was also came with an annoying side. The man was adamant that Hope knew something he didn't and kept questioning him on subjects he had no idea about. The man's delusions confused him to great lengths and even if he wasn't being stubborn on not speaking a word to him, Hope wouldn't have an answer to give to him anyway.

And why was it that he was being so damn curious of Savina, half of the questions he asked him were about her. He didn't get it, what was it about her that had the Valhallans so interested in her? Sure she may have been strong and exceedingly smart – it was how she had gotten so high in the ranks of the military at such a young age – but there was nothing particularly strange about her that merited the reaction the Valhallan men had to her.

His train of thought was cut short without warning when the black hair man pacing about the small grove in thought gave a sudden grunt of pain and fell to the ground senseless.

Standing above the unconscious figure was a young girl with waist length black hair and a short sword bared a hands length from her body. Looking down at the man she had just knocked out, she pulled a strange face and bit down on her lip.

Confused what she was doing Hope soon realised that she was trying to refrain from laughing, and failing, horribly. It wasn't long before she was bent over double laughing her lungs out. While making a futile attempt to contain her laughter, she made her way over to Hope and used her sword to cut the ropes that had him tied up to a tree. Still laughing she held out her hand to him in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Bat Fuck Insane, nice to meet you."

"Ah, hey," he said reaching out his hand to shake hers unsurely. "Could I ask what that was just now?"

"Oh that" she mused "Well you see that guy is really, really, really, really strong and I just jumped down from a tree and knocked him out. He didn't even I know I was there, funny no?"

Skipping over to the man's unconscious body lying on the ground, she poked it with her foot, laughing to herself.

"Oh hey, you know someone called Serah don't you?" she piped up randomly.

"How did you know that!?"

"A little birdy told me." she quipped and jumped into the trees above, disappearing into their green cover and vanishing from view.

Left alone in the small grove, Hope could do nothing but try to figure out the hell had just happened.

...:...

Looking up as she heard movement in the foliage above her, Serah only just managed dodge to the side as the black haired girl landed on the ground just to her side.

Smiling mischievously she quickly told her Serah out of the blue, "I just met one of your friends."

"What?" Serah was quick to question "Who?"

"Come see." The girl said with the same smile and disappeared in a western direction.

Following the path she took as best she could Serah tread through the plants underfoot until she came out of the bush and into a small grove. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who else other than the black haired girl was within it.

"Hope!" she yelled out in surprise.

"Serah."

Walking forward to meet at the middle of the grove Serah grasped hold of his hands. "I was scared you'd died, what happened to you?"

"I escaped getting hurt when the Yaschas Massif base was destroyed and I got captured when I was going to the safe house in Mynscentar forest. There were others but they didn't get captured, someone else was with me but she's been taken elsewhere."

Nodding, she gave his hands a squeeze. "I'm glad you're ok." Letting go of Hope's hands, she flicked her eyes up to the left, now spotting the black haired girl sitting on the branch of a large tree.

Following her line of sight, Hope asked her "Who is that by the way? She introduced herself to me as 'Bat Fuck Insane'."

"What?" Serah responded, snapping her face back to his.

"It's one of my many titles," the girl joked from her place in the tree.

Shaking her head at the girl's strangeness, Serah gave an answer to Hope's previous question. "Actually I have no idea whatsoever who that girl is, she didn't even give me a semblance of a name. She just burst out of nowhere and saved me from the Valhallans after they captured me. She hasn't given me any speck of personal information about herself."

Looking over at the girl in question, Hope said to her, though not exactly expecting an answer, "So you're not going to tell us your name huh?"

Watching as the girl gave him a fleeting look before jumping down from the tree and beginning to pace towards one side of the grove, a thoughtful expression on her face, Serah and Hope took their attention off her and put it back on their own conversation.

Serah spoke up first. "So what do you think we should do now? Go back perhaps, though I guess I wouldn't have to tell you how dangerous that is."

"Hmmm, it's a thought, as dangerous as it is, but wouldn't it be even more dangerous to just stay out here. Last time I checked there aren't any safe houses around here, seeing as so many Valhallans hang around here. In a way going back to Mynscentar is our best choice."

About to talk further, Serah was cut off the girl beating her to speaking first. "Hey" she said to get their attention.

Looking over at her, Serah took note that her expression was unlike any that she had seen on her yet, but the emotion it expressed wasn't one that she could put into words.

Looking directly at Hope she said "Call me Aaia." Pausing briefly, she cast her gaze over both of them "And I don't think you'll be getting back anytime soon. You see, you two were captured for a reason and I don't think those buffoons will rest until they have you back in their hands. So for you two, this is the start of a nightmare."

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><p><em>Do you have any idea how annoying it is to call someone "the girl" for an entire chapter, especially if you're someone like me who hates being repetitive in what you write?<em>

_Also the black haired man is being called that because he legitimately has no name, I'm having trouble coming up with one. Anyone out there wouldn't be any to help with that would they, all I can really say about the kind of name he needs to have is that it is something more normal than the traditional Valhallan name (I'm going to use Vitzca as an example for a traditional name). He just needs a name that's on the normal side that sounds cool, every time I try to come up with one my mind goes completely blank, I can't even come up with any ideas whatsoever, which is rather unusual for me._

_The "little birdy" comment is going to drive you mad in this story, because Aaia says it so many times it's driving me insane._


	7. An end, and a new dawn

Hello readers.

Firstly I apologise for the long time it took me to update this. I aware I told one of my reviewers that I'd have the next chapter up real soon weeks ago so I sincerely apologise for that. I didn't foresee how hard this chapter would be for me to write, I had to rewrite it twice because I wrote myself into a corner on both my first attempts and had to nearly completely rewrite the third version of it so that it was up to scratch. Plus with the content of the chapter it was really annoying to get the information out that I wanted to without giving too much away or making it confusing. If some things about the chapter do confuse you your free to write what's confusing you in a review and I'll explain it as much as I can. Also, I had a really hard time getting this chapter beta-ed so that makes up for the last three to fours weeks of not updating. First my sister wouldn't beta it cuz the very first paragraph sent her paranoia insane because it was really good apparently and then my actually beta didn't feel up to beta-ing it at first and than she got really really sick and was practically coughing up her lungs for a week. But I got it beta-ed eventually and that's what counts.

I want to thank Hidden chaser and onimimi for the reviews they sent me, they really made my day.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.**

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><p><em><strong>An end, and a new dawn<strong>_

Laying on her bed with her rumpled sheets spread out all about her, Claire stared up at the roof, wide awake. All of her efforts to quiet her active mind were to no avail. Night had long since fallen and the going of time ate up hour after hour of twilight. Yet her mind refused to shut off and allow her the rest her body craved.

The relentless mental activity made it impossible for sleep to find her. Her mind, as was the norm of late, kept on retelling the tales of the sad events had taken place in the days past.

The night that the news of the devastating attack on the Yaschas Massif military base reached the attention of the safe house was of them. Hardly the worst of the happenings, but it was a dreadful occurrence nonetheless.

But what was more dreadful was the chain of events that took place afterward. It would have been a week or so after the attack that a group of soldiers from the destroyed base had come to the safe house and delivered to them the news of what had happened during and after the attack. Worse of which easily being that while Hope had survived the attack and had been with them on the journey to the safe house, he had stayed behind with another soldier to distract a group of Valhallans that had appeared before them so that the other soldiers could make it to safety without coming to harm.

Even without waiting for his return, Claire had known from the moment the soldier's spoke of this that neither Hope nor the other soldier would make it to the safe house. She couldn't say how she knew, just that some sixth sense told her so. And being a person who had learned to trust their instincts she knew her sense to be right. It had never failed her before and as much as she may wish for the trust to be otherwise, she knew it wasn't. The truth was painful but it was the truth, and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.

So as everyone else began to become aware of what she already was, the blow they had taken when they had originally thought that Hope may be dead was made more pronounced as what was chance became next to certain.

And that wasn't the worst of the tales her mind had taken to retelling to her each night of late. To her the last of them was the worst, much, much worse. A terrible event that those around her wished was false imagery only to be harshly reminded each day that that ideal was the false imagining.

Only minutes after the soldiers had come to the safe house and told them of Hope's fate that Darla had burst through the doors with utterly more horrible news on her lips.

News that all the sentries that had been sent out with a group of women to collect from the vegetable patches, to the exclusion of Serah, were killed by a Valhallan man. Petrified, she had told of how the black haired man had killed all of them without moving a muscle and proceeded to capture Serah in his grasp. He had allowed the remaining women to run away, but that hadn't stopped all except Darla from being struck down by other Valhallan men who trudged through the area as they fled back to the safe house.

The horrid timing of this news made the devastating effects it had on all of them flare up worse by tenfold.

Her father, a generally lively man, became uncharacteristically withdrawn, very similarly to how Barty had become so after hearing the news of what had befallen the Yaschas Massif base. It unnerved her to no end to see him like that. As childish as it might have sounded, he had always seemed so much to her like an embodiment of strength, someone who could never fall to sorrow.

Her siblings on the other hand weren't quiet in their grief, they showed emotion, all of it negative. They become inconsolable. Claire had spent many a night staying up to comfort Ereka, holding her in her arms and attempting to still her endless tears. She hadn't seen Joshy shed a tear since the day they had heard the news of their mother's capture but every time she looked his way, she could see them behind his eyes, fighting to be let out. Yet he fought against them so valiantly. She wished that he could see that sometimes there are days when you need to let it all out and cry. To keep sorrow locked up inside you is a tool for your own undoing.

Sazh and Dajh had both been hit hard; father and son had grown close to Serah over the years, especially Dajh. As since before Claire had been born, her mother by profession had been a teacher, and Dajh, like many others, had been one of the students that she had taught throughout the years. So him and those else who had been under her tutorage had become attached to Serah over that time. So the news of what had happened to her was very upsetting.

And herself, how could she describe how she had been affected by it all? She was blank, a white sheet that showed nothing to the outside world other than its sole bare face. Sure on the inside she felt hurt, a lot of it, but for reasons beyond her it never showed. She guessed it must have seemed unsettling, but she was completely unable to do anything about it.

The reason why that was so had, so far, avoided her. But a cause for part of it came clear to her.

The sixth sense. The same instinct that had told her that Hope wouldn't make it to the safe house also told her of her mother's predicament. It spoke to her of danger, danger akin to hell itself, but not death.

Perhaps that had something to do with it; perhaps it was because without a definite of what was happening to her mother she was scared for her. And that subconsciously she herself was scared that if she did show emotion she'd break down and be no less inconsolable than her younger sister.

Blinking her eyes, Claire blew out a sigh and ended that thought there. Her mind's re-envisioning of past events weren't the only things troubling her of late. There were many other small things that sought to bother her lately, but nothing worthy to note. Except one. How lately, every time she had gone up to the sentry posts, against her father's wishes for her to stay away from them, there was always something amiss from the usual. The number of Valhallans in the area had increased from the norm, and not by a small amount.

Though the fears the increased activity instilled in her were a little preposterous there was no reason to completely dismiss them.

Her curiosity on it had been enough to tempt her into bringing up the subject with someone who she knew would be able to get her hands on better answers then she could. Someone from outside, who she had met whilst going against every warning she'd ever been told, and gone outside. She couldn't put into words what had made her do so, but some unexplainable feeling had told her that she had to. The woman she had consequently met had told her that it was fate for them to meet and that her destiny was something much more than to live out her life in the shelter of the safe house.

So there were many more times that followed when she went out to meet with this person, and she had since learned much about what was happening in the world that evaded the eyes of most humans. Like the Valhallans' purpose for the seizure of Pulse.

But that wasn't a part of her train of thought right now, so she turned her attention away from it and back to the answer the woman had given her to the question she asked her about the growing number of Valhallans in Mynscentar. The answer had been vague, but it revealed to Claire that the fears they harboured were one and the same.

Closing her eyes against the thoughts, Claire dragged in a long breathe and held it before letting it out as a protracted sigh. Rolling onto her side she did her best to shut off the repetitive visions that persisted in continuing on constantly in her mind and tried to force herself to going to sleep. Right now she didn't want to think about the bad thing that could happen.

She was tired, both physically and mentally. The strain of past days was getting to be a difficult weight to carry. So she wished herself to go to sleep so she could have some well-deserved rest.

But as soon as she had closed her eyes she opened them again. Jolting into an upright position on her bed, her eyes darted about the room.

She suddenly felt as if an ominous cloud of foreboding had swept throughout the place, enveloping it completely and utterly. Swallowing thickly, Claire got up from her bed.

Jogging to the door, she grabbed hold of the doorknob, swung the door inwards and stepped outside. Closing it quietly behind her so as not to wake her slumbering brother and sister who still slept inside, she let go of the knob and turned her gaze to the left end of the hallway that stretched out further down the way beside her.

No conscious thought moved her steps, but that direction did she begin to walk. A strange curiosity had overtaken her and she needed to fulfil what it told her to do. Without thinking about it she knew where she had to go and without any awareness of her movements her body took her there on autopilot. The lethargy she had felt only seconds before had fallen away, to be replaced by adrenaline that filled her every cell.

Her path eventually took her a room that rested close to the front hall where the main doors were situated.

Swinging it open harshly, Claire crossed the threshold and strode purposely up to the woman who slept soundlessly within. Not caring to how the woman would react at being woken up at this ungodly hour, she shook her awake rudely.

"Hey Darla, wake up," she spat nastily.

Grumbling as she was shook, Darla was soon to open her eyes. "Wha?" she mumbled, trying to shake the vestiges of sleep.

"I said wake up, I need to ask you something," Claire reiterated fiercely.

Looking up to the face of the girl standing over her, Darla's eyes widened in shock and partial anger when it hit her just who it was who had woken her. Snapping to wakefulness she hissed, "What do you want?"

"When you fled back here the other day, did you check to see if you were being watched when you entered the safe house?" Claire interrupted her.

"What?" Darla asked in confusion "Why are you asking me that now? Of course I didn't, I was too busy running for my life!"

Eyes locking on to the elderly woman at hearing those word Claire hands tightened into fists, hate evident on her features. Sometimes she had to hate when her sixth sense was right.

"You stupid hag." She breathed in fury. "Did you even stop for a second that maybe they could have been-?"

Her words were cut off abruptly by the sound of crashes coming from the direction of the front hall. Dropping whatever conversation was happing between them, both of Claire and Darla's gazes shot to the open doorway. Ignorance of the situation decorated the elder women's face but Claire's showed the opposite. Whatever was happening, she knew what it was.

Running to the doorway Claire paused at the door-frame and looked up to the main hall which was visible to her from where she was standing. A dust cloud was billowing up in the large chamber and all along the corridor people were coming out from inside their rooms to see what the source of the noise was.

"What was that?" Darla asked frightfully from where she sat behind Claire on her bed. Ignoring the question, Claire paid the old woman little mind, telling no more than the cryptic, "They're here," before running down the passageway and to the front hall.

Many other people had gathered at end of the corridor by the time she got there, all of which were looking into the clouded main hall inquisitively, trying to figure out what was going on. Claire noticed Sazh to be among them.

About to walk towards him, some indescribable instinct told her to stop. Standing stock still she tried to make sense of the feeling. But the probing was brought to an end when she felt the air surrounding her turn still and suddenly it hit her what was going to happen. Dashing forward she grabbed a hold of Sazh's collar and threw herself down by the side of the entrance to the corridor, taking him with her.

Milliseconds later a giant beam of white light shot forward and engulfed the passageway in its entirety. Half ignoring Sazh's pained groans as he recovered from the rough landing Claire bolted up into a sitting position and took in the sight of the aftermath the beam had left in its wake.

No one was there. The people who had been standing there had completely disappeared or rather as Claire soon saw, killed. The beam, whatever it was, had obliterated them.

Shooting up onto her legs, Claire ran to the front of the entryway and let out a ragged gasp of horror. She stared transfixed at the ash remains of the people who had been standing there only a moment ago, the thought creeping unbidden into her mind that if she had chosen to jump out of the way just a second later than she did, her fate would be no different from the people who had just died.

So distracted she was by what the entryway contained, Claire didn't notice Sazh walk up beside her until he drew to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Claire," he spoke up.

Claire jumped and snapped her eyes over to him in shock, but calmed down instantly when she realised it was only him. "Sazh." she breathed out, thinking it stupid to be scared by a person she had known was there.

Looking over the corridor with his own eyes, Sazh adopted an expression similar to that of Claire's horrified one. "How'd you know that was coming?"

"I don't know." Claire answered truthfully, turning her back on the passageway to view the damage done to the main hall. "I just knew I had to get out of there."

The main hall that stretched out before them had been laid to waste in the short time since the crashing noises had begun. The mental supports that had lined the walls had been torn down and now lay useless on the ground. Everything else in the room had either been destroyed by the same men who had torn down the supports or had been crashed by the heavy structures as they fell.

Taking a handful of cautious steps forward, Claire heard Sazh begin to follow after her, but wishing him not to she turned around to face him abruptly, which caused the man to nearly bump into her, and told him firmly, "Sazh, don't come with me."

Confused by the request, he was quick to argue back, "Why? There is no way that I am leaving you here alone."

Claire shook her head, reasoning to him, "No, I want you to go find Dajh and my siblings, get them out of here from one of the side exits. I don't want to see them get hurt in this. It was the Valhallans who did this Sazh, they've broken into the safe house. Most of them have gone down the halls already; so can you please make sure for me that Joshy and Ereka don't get hurt by them. Please Sazh." Looking straight into his eyes, Claire tried to convey just how much she wanted him to carry out her request.

Luckily for her it didn't take too much to convince him to do as she asked and he soon began backtracking to the hallway they had previously come out of. "What about you then?" he asked her. "What are you going to do?"

Turning her back on him so that the main doors were within her sights, Claire told him, "I don't know why, but something is telling me I have to go out there."

"That all? If the Valhallans are here that would be risking your life. Shouldn't you have some better reason?"

"My instincts saved your ass back there you may as well listen to them now," Claire replied unfalteringly.

Partially silenced, Sazh had to curse how he knew there would be no convincing her to do otherwise when she sounded so adamant on going forward. It was just the way she was, so god-awful stubborn at the worst of times.

"You gonna be ok? Don't want your dad angry with me if this goes south."

Smiling a smile that she was well aware Sazh couldn't see, Claire lifted up her right arm and gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. I'd worry about yourself if I were you."

Not at all assured, Sazh mumbled, "I will," and began backing off to the deserted corridor before turning his back on the main hall. "See ya," he said casually, jogging down the passageway as fast as his old body would take him.

"Goodbye Sazh," Claire said in farewell, all shreds of light-heartedness leaving her to be replaced by a cloak of seriousness. Dragging in deep, long breaths she tried to keep herself calm with no such luck, and began walking towards the main door.

Danger traced her steps, threatening her whole being; existing everywhere she looked; existing everywhere she let her foot touch the earth. Somewhere here, in someplace that avoided her eyes, was someone dangerous. The source of the foreboding that enveloped everything around her.

...:...

Sitting with his back against the wall of one of the sentry posts, the black haired Valhallan man amused himself with his own thoughts of this place's destruction.

It would be imminent and unavoidable. This place would fall at his men's hands, its inhabitants killed, with the exception of a few of course. The Untundra next to never sent them anywhere without a good reason, this place's one being the seizure of people the Untundra wanted captured. As well as the death of an undesirable who took shelter here when she was not disrupting his plans.

Pushing off the wall, the black haired man straightened up. He could hear the sound of someone approaching him. He smiled darkly to himself; at the very least he would go out and greet the person before sending them to their deaths.

...:...

Closing in on the door, Claire stopped in her tracks. Someone was there. Right by the door stood a tall man with his face hidden in shadows, making it impossible for to Claire make out his features in detail. In her hands she tightened her hold on a metal pipe. She had picked it up off the ground earlier for use as a weapon had the need to fight arose.

The defensive action provoked a laugh from the man, a sound that Claire found oddly familiar, but it wasn't until he stepped forward from the shadows and into clear view that she realised why.

She recognised him. She'd seen him before, outside. During the times she snuck out from the side exits without anyone's knowledge.

"Robert," she ventured to say but as she had expected, he didn't blink an eye at the name. Instead he flashed a dark toothy smile, illustrating all the more that he wasn't the Robert she knew. And as long as the brand that ran down his arm shone black he would never be so. The black colour was a sign that he was under that bitch's control and would do all that they directed him to do. He would follow out each and every order she gave him no matter what it was so long as that brand remained black.

"Nice to see you again, pipsqueak," he greeted her in a dark humorous tone.

Claire resisted the urge to shiver at the tone. Robert was always one for humour but when he was under the control of that bitch that love of humour was accompanied by a love of the dark and disturbing. A bad combination in any circumstance.

"I thought I told you before not to call me that Robert; it's hardly a fitting title."

Obviously finding her words funny, Robert let out a small chuckle and shook his head "Well seeing as you've come to me right off the bat instead of making me have to go out and find you, you've done me the great favour of making your death at my hands all the more easier, so I don't think you'll have to be bothered with that much longer."

Hearing those words, Claire gripped the metal pipe in her hands tighter, baring it defensively in front of her. She had suspected as much, seeing as the person who controlled Robert hated her guts like nothing else.

"You're dreaming if you think you could lay a hand on me." Claire shot back at him tauntingly.

As she predicted the taunt provoked a smile from Robert. "We'll see about that."

And then it started; he shot forward at a run, brought forth a sword from his cloak and swung it down at her. Luckily, from past experience Claire knew her speed was superior, so her dodges were faced with no hesitancy from the query of whether or not her speed would be enough to evade him.

On and on they fought, dancing around the hall locked in intense combat. In someone else's control the attacks Robert made at her were not up to scratch with his usual, and his movements were strained. Which was a good sign; it showed that his spirit fought against its imprisonment. If it fought valiantly enough there was chance of him breaking free of the control of the person directing him, but the chance was slim to none, so Claire never let her guard down.

With his strained movements up against those of someone who had total control over theirs, the fight was mostly one sided, but something told Claire that it wouldn't remain that way. So she kept on her toes and did the best she could to remain alert and not let that moment take by surprise.

Unfortunately, for all her vigilance, she still wasn't ready for the turn of the tides.

A odd sort of smile crossed Robert's face, and for a brief moment he ceased all movement. Bringing up the metal pipe to defend herself, Claire was utterly taken aback when the next attack he threw her way wasn't one deflectable by such simple means.

A great wall of energy rammed into her and sent her flying into the air where she eventually landed a couple of metres away on the solid rock floor with a definite thump.

Robert laughed at her, and began walking casually towards her one step at a time.

"Do you seriously think that I would be sent here to kill you without being given any kind of alternative way to end you if by sword become infeasible? Idiot, I am not so dumb as to come unprepared and let you slip through our hands once again. Tonight you will die, and nothing is changing that fact."

Panic rising up in her chest, Claire tried to get up from the ground, only to find, as a pain flared up in her abdomen, that her body wasn't going to allow her to do so.

_How smart_, she thought. She now saw that it wasn't without reason that Robert had the hall laid to ruin. With debris all about them it had become plenty easy to injure themselves on the bits and pieces that lay strewn about the hall. Like the large spike of shrapnel that had pierced through her stomach.

Absent-mindedly feeling about for the spike, Claire bit down on her lip as her hand came into contact with the metal object. It had easily destroyed all her chances of escape.

Looking up as the noises made from Robert's steps came to an end, Claire saw the man standing over her with a smug smile plastered on his face, giggling joyously, the smile widening. "You have done well to fall right into the trap I set up for you, cretyn."

Leaning down he grabbed a handful of the fabric of Claire's top and pulled her up off the ground, invoking a grunt of pain from the injured girl.

When he spoke next it was much like he was talking to himself and not to Claire. "The Untundra hasn't been happy with me lately, you know, because some bitch has been letting my prisoners escape from under my watch. He wasn't even sure that it was a good idea to let me come here, but we made a deal. That if I could kill you he'd let me back into his confidence."

Slowly, his hands snaked their way up Claire chest and clamped down on her throat, ceasing the girl's ability to take in oxygen. A single though breached Claire mind as Robert's hand held on tighter and tighter to her throat, slowly crushing it.

_'Shit, shit, shit.'_

* * *

><p>Robert's gleeful smile widened all the more as he thought, that all it'd take to put himself back in the Untundra favour was to crush this girl's throat. Easy, as can be, and with everything going to plan. There was just one factor he didn't write into the equation.<p>

When someone grabbed him from behind, dragged him into their embrace and buried a blade in his abdomen.

"Drop her," A fierce feminine voice spat at him.

And he did drop Claire, but hardly of his own volition. The wound in his abdomen shook his body with pain and his grasp on Claire's neck was released.

And it was with dismay that he noticed as the girl's body hit the ground that she was still breathing. She was undoubtedly unconscious and her intakes of breathe were infrequent and brief, but she was breathing nonetheless. Meaning that for now she was still alive and his promise to the Untundra was yet to be fulfilled.

Dropping to his knees, Robert clutched the bleeding wound with his right hand. "Bitch," he hissed at the unknown woman who had hurt him.

He didn't know who she was, even as she came into his vision in a swish of black fabric, and knelt on the ground by Claire, he failed to recognise her. The chance he was given to examine her features closely when she lifted the girl into her arms and tried to ascertain the degree of her injuries also did nothing to help him ascertain her identity. All he knew was that being someone who had stopped him carrying out the Untundra's orders, she was now a target whose life needed ending.

Knowing that he was now in no state to initiate an attack with successful results, he decided to use his emergency attack that was to be used if all else failed.

Raising a hand into the air, a white light started to form in the palm of his hand.

It was the same attack he had used to kill the people standing in the hallway before. He had used it then with the intention of killing off that cursed girl quickly, but the pest dodged the attack.

But she wouldn't this time. Better yet, she couldn't.

Smiling to himself, the white light exploded from his hand and the world went white.

Perhaps if he had been able to remember who the woman in black was, he would have realised that such a measly attempt at ending her would amount to nothing. And as long as she held Claire in her arms, neither of them would die.

...:...

Hours later, the distant sound of birds chirping roused Claire from her sleep. She opened her eyes to the sight of bright green leaves that filtered out the vision of a dusk sky.

Blinking her eyes in confusion at her surroundings, Claire sat up straight, surprising herself even more when the movement brought on no pain. Eyes darting down to where the wound in her abdomen had been she felt about for it, but it was no longer there. Eyeing the spot curiously, she poked it a couple of times with her finger. It felt tender, but there was no pain or sign that the injury had ever been there in the first place.

As strange an occurrence as it was, her curiosity soon ended. She knew there was only one person who could have healed her wounds. And casting her gaze around her current location, which happened to be a series of tree houses high in the trees that formed a small village, her thoughts were confirmed. The person who had saved her was the woman she had met on her visits to the outside.

All that was left now was to find her saviour. Or her saviour to find her- by walking up from behind and hitting her over the head for no apparent reason.

Falling forward from the force of the blow, Claire clutched her head and rose back up to a sitting position and faced the woman who hit her.

"What the hell was that for, Lye?"

"Well apart from still calling me that, try nearly getting me killed when I had to save your ass. I don't care if Robert's freaky little white light attack is no trouble for my barrier, if I hadn't been prepared for it he would have made mincemeat out of both of us. So I reckon I deserved to give you a good hit."

Wincing at her words Claire mumbled, "Love how your mind works."

Lyella, as was her name, did nothing but shrug off the remark and walk in front of Claire and sit down on a step that led into the wooden tree house closest to them. Fidgeting with the cascading black fabric and lace of her long skirt, she persevered to move it around into a more comfortable position and threw back her lace hood, revealing the face in full. Her eyes were bright, in direct contrast to her otherwise dark colourations.

"Aren't you in the very least curious about what happened after you fell unconscious?" she shot out unexpectedly, making Claire realise just how much she had neglected to ask.

"Oh that's right!" Claire blurted out, shooting forward. "What happened to my family, did they make it out of there?"

Smirking like she found it funny, Lyella mumbled, "Now you get around to it," and nodded, "Yes they did, the old man got your siblings out as well as Dajh. Which is lucky I guess, the Valhallans obliterated that place, by the time I got you out of there it had completely caved in."

An odd look passed over Claire's face for moment, but it was soon gone. If Lyella had read it right it had been one of fear. "And about my father?" she asked. "What happened to him?"

"He's alright, given he didn't make it out with the others. I actually found him in the rubble, but the damn living tank was still breathing fine. Though he must have had a god awful hit to the head. It wouldn't surprise me if he stayed out of it for the next day or so."

Blowing out a sigh of relief, Claire leaned back and brought her knees close to her chest. She lowered her head and held a staring contest with the wooden plates at her feet. She turned serious then, asking out of the blue, "I can't go back can I?" Though a question it had been, she hadn't asked it out of ignorance of the answer, because she already knew what it was.

All sense of light-heartedness left Lyella at the question, and she too turned serious. "No, you can't," she said. "I'm sorry to say but without the protection of the safe house you're no longer safe from the Valhallans. You know as well as I do that their puppet master wants you dead as much as me."

Claire nodded, "I know; I've known that would happen from the moment I started helping you that it would end like that, I just never thought that the safe house could be so easily destroyed by them."

"Underestimating their strength is a dangerous move, Claire; it's a mistake I don't suggest you make again," Lyella informed her.

Claire made a grumpy mumbling sound in response. Then asked "What about my family? They don't know that I escaped."

Pausing as if to contemplate her answer, Lyella bit on her lip. She was in no way going to tell Claire that what she was about to say was something she'd been thinking over for a long time now "Perhaps it's better that way," she told her, "that they think you dead."

Claire reacted much like Lyella thought she would. Her eyes shot up to meet the black haired woman's, appalled by the notion. "How could I do that? It'd be heartless, especially to my own family!"

"Don't think I don't know that," Lyella barked back, "but in your position it is better that way. If they think you're dead then the ones after you are very likely to adopt the same theory. It's no use to chase after a dead person; both of us would be better off for it. If you want to survive from here on out you're gonna have to do some heartless things to get by; you might as well get used to it now."

Silenced, Claire directed her gaze downwards once more, seeing the sense in Lyella words, cruel as they were. Dropping the subject, she chose to pursue a different one. "Lye," she spoke up, ignoring the flash of hate the name sparked in Lyella's eyes. If she was going to be a baby and get annoyed over being called a certain name then that was her problem, she was in no way going to indulge her by calling her something different.

"Is my mother still alive?" she asked earnestly lifting her eyes back up to Lyella's so she could look the woman in the eye.

Blinking at the question, like she had expected Claire to already know the answer, the women answered, "Yes, Hope too."

Claire nodded, somewhere in her mind she had though neither dead. "But they're in danger aren't they?"

Strangely enough, going against everything her sixth sense had told her, Lyella shook her head.

Confused by that , Claire shot back "What!? But every time I try to sense what their situation is, my mind tells me they're in danger."

"And you've not wrong, they are in danger, but then again they're not." Lyella answered cryptically, a small smirk settling itself on her face.

Utterly baffled by what the woman was saying Claire questioned her "What do you mean? How is that possible?"

Her smirk widening, Lyella pointed a finger in the air. "It's simple," she said, "Aaia is with them."

* * *

><p>If anyone's wondering but Lyella doesn't hate being called Lye, she hates being called her name. She's a strange one. That and when Claire showed fear on her face before asking Lyella if she knew what happened to Snow, it wasn't entirely out of fear for him if he was hurt, but also fear for how many people would have died in the collapse of the safe house. I just didn't manage to put it into the chapter.<p>

Again if anything in the chapter confused you just write me a review and I'll explain it for you as much as I can.

**READ THIS- **that was a recommendation from my sister to get the attention of people who skip authors notes. Please review, it helps my sanity. Plus if I don't start getting more reviews than 2 each chapter out of the 50 or so people who read this I'm going to start putting review requests in the scene breaks.


	8. The start

_Hello reader, here's the eigth chapter of ET for you._

_There are no words to describe how sorry I am for not updating in so long, apart from shear laziness I've been rather preoccupied fixing up all my stories. Even almost completely rewriting one of them. But that's all out of the way now so updating should get back on track more now. Also this might not mean much to you but I've finally used one of the quotes from the book I keep writing them in in this chapter, and it was one I personally created, so yay._

_And for the chaper, but it takes place directly after the sixth one and before the seventh one. Aaia was scary at some point in it. Don't you think it's weird that the characters who you are creating their move can scare you, cuz I think it is. Luckily she stopped doing it so it's all good._

_Also on an unrealated note but I got to see my baby cousin for the first time the day I finished this chapter. Have to say but I'm going to have a funny story to tell him when he's older that's gonna go 'You know Lockie, when you were born, no one told me' I have no idea how all of my family members somehow forgot to tell either me or my sister that my aunty who had just been pregnant for nine months had __GIVEN BIRTH, __but they did. It was funny when I actually told my Mother she had forgotten to tell us about him, cuz she kind of flipped (We'd picked up the day he was born, his name and his gender from random things the family were saying.) It kind of just got to the point that we were waiting to see if someone realised, not that they did of course, but it was funny waiting. P.S He's adorable!_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does._**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The start<strong>_

Serah and Hope just stared at the girl in front of them. A nightmare she said? Why, what did she mean? What made this situation a nightmare? What? Sure it wasn't the number one kind of circumstance they would have preferred to be in, but now that they were free surely it wouldn't be so.

But something in Serah's mind stilled these thoughts, as more of what the girl had said registered in her mind. '_You two were captured for a reason.'_

Serah gulped, those words could have an unending amount of possible meanings to them. So it was in fear that she asked, "What do you mean, why? Why is this a nightmare? And why did they want us captured, we're no one special. What was special about us is in the past, for what reason would they-"

The girl-Aaia- stopped her short. Her words were soft and calm, sweet. "I told you before, those men are stupid oafs, it's not you they fear but your potential."

While it was not welcome information, she'd said it in a way specifically to calm Serah. It helped but didn't erase her anxiety. Beside her she saw Hope wasn't faring much better.

"Can you explain what you mean? I want to know why." He asked next.

Aaia looked his way briefly, then dropped her gaze to the ground, "I can't explain everything, really. There are things about what is happening that I just can't say. But I'll tell you what I can."

Clasping and unclasping her hands, Aaia walked over to a tree and rested her back against it. "There isn't too much to say really, unless you were going after every single detail, but that would take more time then we have so I don't suggest doing to it." Rolling her shoulders she looked up to the sky she couldn't see. "What's to say? Those big boofheads you see come from the world of Valhalla, and work under someone. If you ever hear them converse you'll hear them address him by Untundra, though the people on my side tend to just call him the _'The bitch'. _The bastard's obsessed with domination, and holds this world hostage against those few in Valhalla who still remain to oppose him. That's the one and only reason those oafs are here, pitiful as it is. And you see, he fliches at every sight of opposition, not literally of course, but in the way that he reacts so quick to it he doesn't even think about what he's doing."

"And how are we opposition?" Hope interjected.

Aaia, threw him a look and snorted, not at his expense but wholeheartedly agreeing with him, "That's what I mean by he flinches and acts without thinking. You two left alone would have never done anything." She paused, "Well maybe you because you were in the army and all that- but nothing substantial." She said with an extravagate gesture.

"If anything he's endangered himself more by capturing you and hence involving you in all of this."

"And what would we do to harm him?" Serah shot out. Her anxiety leaving her some the more she calmed down.

"Not anything necessarily," Aaia replied, "but this action could set off others. While there are not many active players on our side in this world, the ones we do have here pack a pretty nasty punch when you come to blows with them. This situation here could very well push some over the edge enough to act."

"And who are your side? Hope asked. "It'd be nice to know more about the person helping us."

Looking his way again, she waited a moment, as if contemplating what to say, then said "My side are the ones who don't agree with the Untundra. And the few humans of this world who are connected to us, are ones who see unclouded the truth of it all, and know which side to pick. Don't worry for your safety around us; we pose no harm to you. Anyone who has suffered under the dictatorship of the Valhallan men who roam these lands are friends of ours."

Hope opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it instead and nodded, whatever worries that were in his mind mostly dispersed. "What about you then?" He asked.

Strangely, the girl flinch at his question, and a look of great pain passed over her face. Slipping down the trunk of the tree she laid back on, she sat on the ground. Her next words were spoken from a painful place in her heart "I'm nothing worth mentioning."

After that conversation was forgotten. Neither Hope nor Serah had any idea what about his words had upset her so, but whatever it was had put the girl into a state of quiet distress. And for a long time she just sat there on the grass staring off into the distant like she was in a world of her own. After a timespan of many silent minutes she got up from her spot and walked over to the unconscious Valhallan man from where he still sat in the corner of the grove and kneeled down by his head. She took hold of his arm, which they saw to be tattoos with a strange array of ancient markings, and started mumblings thing under her breaths. Her quiet words were as foreign as her actions, but neither of them bothered to ask what she was doing. They could tell conversation wasn't something she'd hold up right now.

After many more minutes, Aaia let go of his arm and got up and dusted herself off. Looking back to them she said in a very drained, quiet voice "We must go now, more Valhallans will past through this area soon and we have to be gone before they come or there will be nothing but bad for us. Whatever else I have to tell you I will tell you when you need it."

Hope and Serah nodded at her request, and followed behind her as she exited the grove and slipped into the bright green foliage of the forest around them.

…:…

Hours later in the cold of night, the black haired Valhallan man woke.

Disorientated and confused, he rolled off his stomach and onto to his back in order to relieve some of his discomfort from spending hours lying at a bad position. Groggily, he opened his eyes to the dark sky of stars above him.

His first thought was that his arm hurt. Right down the centre, and vividly painful, but a familiar one that was to him easy to ignore. A more pressing source of hurt came from his chest, after spending hours with his face pressed to the earth he figured his body must have been fighting for air. It ached. A pain he was not familiar with.

These were the simplest of thoughts he could clear from the rumble of his mind. For the rest lay in piles, and for the moment irretrievable. They swirled around his head in rounds of three or five at a time, leaving none eligible. It took many minutes for another to separate itself from the others and catch his attention. And this one he realised was far more important than the pain he felt in his arm and chest.

It was why his arm hurt.

He lifted his arm, the branded one for him to see. He realised now that the pain he felt, while familiar, wasn't one he had felt in a long time, not since he had given up. The brand was red, glowing and hideously painful, but none of that mattered because it meant…it meant…

It meant that for now he was free.

…:…

Under Aaia's leading, days past. She led both Serah and Hope through the forested terrain that seemed to go on endlessly. Serah knew it didn't of course, but as the days passed she did truly begin to wonder where it ended. She knew that the forest around Bodhum had been huge because exploring parties used to go out into it all the time before the time of the Valhallans, but she had never thought that they had meant this big. Her eyes darted around her constantly trying to take in the mysterious beauty of the place but no matter how many times she looked it never seemed like she could catch it all. It made her sad that Aaia couldn't see just how beautiful this place was.

On the note of her peculiar guide, the girl hadn't spoken much since the initial day they met. She was no longer in the saddened mood Hope's question had put her in, but had become a person of few words. Though the things she had said to them, little as they were, had that same happy note that her words had had back on the first day when they were on the beach. To what of Hope's question had upset her, they had no answer.

The topic of what was happening was also an obscure one. She got it that there must have been some sort of trouble in Valhalla, and this 'Untundra' guy must have thought it a good idea to make the entire of pulse his hostage, but the question was why? Why make Pulse his captive, why? What did all of us have to do with all of them when Valhalla and Pulse were completely different worlds? This was something that had gone unanswered.

The day passed without much consequence from then on, and as the hours slipped by the sun sank lower in the horizon until sunset lit up the sky vibrant orange. Eventually Aaia stopped just as it was getting dark.

"We'll stop now." She said. Serah had a thought that the strange girl could have gone on late into the night, Hope too probably. But she guessed that she must have understood that a decade or so in a safehouse didn't leave you in stupendous physical condition, no matter how hard you tried to keep fit.

"Ok." She responded, as Aaia and Hope began to look around for a suitable place to sleep that was out of plain sight.

A little incove made by the way the trees around it were shaped was chosen as their sleeping space. It was nearly completely hidden from view by the tall grass that racked either side of their primitive path. So settling there, Serah let herself rest. She wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, but the day's long trek had left her exhausted and a nice lay down was sounding really nice to her. Hope sat by her side, and Aaia not too far off in the branches of a tree. From where the girl sat it should have been harder to for her to hear them, and so make a conversation something safe from being eavesdropped on, but Serah guessed that as she was blind her hearing would be good enough to hear them even if she had been one hundred metres away. So it made the matter void. Still, she struck up a conversation with Hope anyway. It wasn't Aaia's fault if she heard them.

"Hope." She spoke up.

Twisting around at the sound of her voice, Hope dislodged his attention from the vision of the setting sun that shone between the blades of tall grass, "Yeah."

Staring upwards, Serah remained silent for a time. Why was it now that she realised she'd tried to start up a conversation without a topic? Probing her mind for something to feel the void of silence that had overtaken the area around them, one eventually slipped onto her tongue, "What do you think is happening?"

The look Hope gave her confused her for a second, before he said "You do know who you're asking right? I've been with you nearly this entire time, how could I know anything more than you?"

"That's not what I meant." Serah complained, hitting him on the arm, "I'm mean can't you think of anywhere this girl might be taking us." Going quiet for a second or so, she then conceded to him "But the whole question of why is also something I would like to know as well."

Taking his eyes off Serah, Hope directed them skywards as well, "That's one I certainly can't answer for you, but the question of where we're going, there's a couple possibilities."

"Like what?"

Giving Serah a sidewards glance, Hope said "Well, without knowing her intention, it's hard to make an informed guess about where she could be taking us but this area had a lot of possible choices. Like for starters, it is a mostly Valhallan held district, but to the north-east of here is a virtual safe zone. The lands very hard to traverse there so they don't usually bother themselves with it and leave it alone. I've heard a few stories of soldiers finding themselves trapped around here escaping into it and avoiding capture, if only barely. But you then have the exact opposite in the form of a military base that was taken over years ago in an all-out massacre battle. The Valhallans were the obvious winners of course and have held the base ever since and used it to make this place like their own playground, it's why no comes to this area anymore."

That last piece of information shocked Serah, she hadn't known of Bodhum's fate after they were forced to leave it. She had asked all around to all the newcomers and army personnel that she could, but none had said they knew. It made her a little angry on the inside. Some of the army personnel that she had asked were high up officers who would have surely knew of this if Hope had.

"How long have you known of that?" She asked him, not sure whether to be angry at him too for not telling her sooner.

One look at her face and he knew her quarrel, so he gave her a reassuring smile to calm her and said "Don't worry, I wasn't keeping this from you, I've only known it for a little while myself. Most of the people who know about it try to keep it a secret and just label this place a shadow zone because its Valhallan population is so large making it a place too dangerous to step into. I only learnt of it because one of the secret holders accidentally let it slip to a friend of mine while drunk, and she told me."

"Oh." She mumbled, glad it hadn't been one of his secrets. She knew he had kept a lot of them from everyone over the years. But at least for those secret she knew he had justifiable reasons for keeping them to himself, even if she didn't know what they were.

Processing all of the information he'd given her, she translated their meaning. "So what you were talking about before, you were saying she could either be helping us or leading us into a trap, is that right?"

"That about it." He replied, returning his gaze back to the sky.

Serah let the silence acumalate around them for a couple seconds, before forming her feelings into words, "That's a scary thought."

"It is."

They didn't talk for a long time after that. They just both lied there on the ground as the sun sunk below the horizon and the day was long gone. The night hours were long upon them and Aaia was yet to move from her spot in the tree and didn't seem like she was going to any time soon when Serah found words on her tongue once more.

"I don't think that's her real name."

"Hn." Hope twitched quite visibly at the sound of her voice, obviously he had been falling asleep. Serah couldn't blame him, sleep had been eating at her eyes for over an hour but she just hadn't seemed to be able to fall asleep.

"Aaia, I don't think that's her real name." She repeated.

Staring at her, curiously now Hope asked, "Why do you think?" He hadn't picked up on anything of the sort.

"I don't know really, but don't you remember when she told you it? She said that you could call her Aaia, she never said it was her name."

Pursing his lips in thought, thinking of reply, he said, "You know that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't her name."

"And it doesn't mean it is. I told you I don't know why I think so, it's just a thought is all, doesn't mean it's true."

They both went quiet again after that, and Serah soon felt her tiredness getting the better of her and dragging her off into the world of sleep. Before she was gone, she heard Hope say.

"It is a pretty name though."

…:…

Hours later and Hope jolted awake from the grips of a nightmare.

Sucking in deep breaths he tried to calm himself and bring his heart rate back to normal. He was covered in sweat and the freezing night air around him bit at his skin painfully. Slightly calmer now, he sat up and focused on his surroundings as the dream receded back to that dark place in his mind where it belonged, but wouldn't stay.

The night was still, the only sounds arising out of it were those of the nocturnal wildlife, the flow of the wind and the quiet breathing of Serah beside him. Obviously she hadn't been woken be distress, not that she had expected her to, as she hadn't done so for any of the nights he had woken in the dark. But as he looked to the side, he saw that Aaia was quite aware of it. The black haired girl was sitting cross-legged on the side opposite of Serah, her unseeing eyes locked intensely on him in an eerie sort of way.

"Does this happen every night?" She asked.

Refocusing his mind back on the world around him turned out to a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, so it took much longer than it should have to reply to her question "Most nights."

"What are the dreams about?"

His voice caught in his throat for a second at that hated question before he answered, "I'm not going to tell you."

Aaia nodded, making no attempt to pry futher, a bizarrely foreign act for him. "Then I will say no more."

Her answer generally surprised Hope, for he had expected more out of her. "You're the first person to tell me that you know?"

The girl pulled a weird expression, like she hadn't thought he'd say that, then said, "If I keep secrets from you then I have no right to try and take them from you."

After that she said no more and lied down with the clear intention to sleep. It had been decided from the first day that the night watch would be split between her and Hope. Her first, him next. But from the third night on she no longer woke him up for his watch. The girl was very smart it turned out, she had picked up on his nightmares fast, and started to let them wake him up instead of her. He was yet undecided if that was mean or just lazy. But as tonight had told, she was undeniably curious of them. It seemed to him that it was in her nature to be curious, and more than a little crazy, mixed in with an unbalanced mixture of emotions that didn't match or fit together. It was one of the reasons she was so strange.

Moving to rest his back against the tree nearest him, he let the minutes tick by and almost missed his chance to say before Aaia slipped off to sleep, "Hey Aaia, sorry to ask, but Serah says she thinks that isn't your real name. Is she right?" He wasn't that sure why he asked, but had it slipped out so there was no taking it back now.

Aaia, propped herself up on her elbow and looked up at him, staring at him in a way so strange he didn't think he knew the words to describe it. She stared long and hard for many minutes, so long that he thought she wasn't going to answer, but she did, and said "It is."

Hope raised an eyebrow at her, he half thought that the query had all been a part of Serah's paranoia. "Why didn't you tell us your real one then, why give us a fake one?"

The weird expression dropped from her face, and he felt her aura become a lot less queer. "Because I dare say that I'm having a quarrel with my name."

Despite all the rest that had happened, Hope found himself laughing. Not very loud or for very long, because his mind even now knew that in a place like this silence was of the essence, but he laughed nonetheless. He thought for a while there that this lighter side of Aaia had been gone, "What does that even mean?" He asked her when he was done.

"Means what it means." She said with a shrug, as if that explained it all.

"You're a weird one." He said as she turned back around intent on sleep.

"I know." She said as she settled into position.

A few more minute went by, before he said, "It's a pretty name you know, Aaia."

She didn't respond, for a moment he felt her eyes on him, but nothing more and as the time went by her breathing soon softened to signify that she was asleep.

…:…

The soft light of the night sky drifted in through the barred windows of a darkened dank cell made of concrete. A figure wearing a heavily altered Pulsian army uniform awoke, and lifted their eyes. The moon was high in the sky and the world was asleep. Now was the time.

Tensing their arms against the shackles that circled each wrist and held their arms high above their head, their gaze landed on the lock hanging from the cell door.

And it shattered.

* * *

><p><em>And fun.<em>

_I'm saying this specifically to my friend that's very interested in this story's secrets, but I have feeling that this chapter would really intrigue you. I was thinking that as I was typing it so I worded some things specifically so that they'd confuse you. Hope it worked._

_Also if anyone's wondering, but the friend of Hope's who got told what happened to Bodhum by a drunk officer was in fact Savina. Now that I think about it but he's got some very weird stories about her. Also when he told Serah he hadn't known of the taken over military base for long he meant a year and a half. Because that's apparently what not long means to someone who hasn't seen their friends in five years._

_Also unrelated but I'm currently using my brother's old laptop, and let me say, but there's a reason why when he gave it to me and my sister the password was japanese for sorry. It doesn't have a bloody 'B' key for gods sake! It's also very slow and when I first started using it the keys freaked me out because their really weird and I was too used to my school laptop's and the ones on my Parents computer. I have since changed the password to smexy ichgo because the in part of bleach I'm up to his hair is longer and it makes him look smexy. Which is good becuase Aisen isn't anymore._

_That was more than a little useless to tell you I know, sorry._

_Anyway, I have to start chapterly promoting my sister's and friend's stories now (I'm going to do the same for mine becuse I'm a shameless self promoter who isn't getting as many views as I would have liked.) So can you please go and have a look at Envious skys and 0erbayunFang's stories. I also weould like if some of you could have a look at my other two stories. For any KH fans please read my KH one because I love it and it's barely getting any views. It's and screwed up novelisation if you want to know, and seeing what I've done to XIII-2 with this story, you should get what I mean by screwed up._

_And now lastly please review, because I love getting them and they truly make my day, so good bye for now and I hoped you liked the chapter._


	9. A lock of golden hair

_Hello everyone and welcome to the ninth chapter of ET. Sorry that it took so long to update this but I've had mass writers block for it lately, let's just pray that this will be the end of it._

_I liked this chapter, It turned out pretty good, except for this part at the start. But that's to me, you might not notice it, it just that there was this important part and I forgot how I was going to write it and it didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to._

_Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>A lock of golden hair<strong>_

A harsh light shone through the green canopy as Hope and Serah finally arrived in the safe zone. As Hope had presumed it was indeed the target of Aaia's guidance. She had led them to the thickly spread forest in a matter of days since she had taken the reigns of their travel. Still, as infamous as the place was for being avoided by Valhallans, it didn't put the girl at ease. She was as wary as always. Truth be told though, while it had taken him a while to realise it, she hadn't let her guard down for a moment since he'd met her. She was always on alert, even when she was happy and laughing.

It made Hope curious. Though that said he was pretty sure that there wasn't a thing about her that he didn't find curious. And despite how he was a little loathing to admit it considering how nice the girl seemed, all that curiosity made him very cautious of her. He was sure Serah was the same.

As the day progressed they travelled deeper into the forest under Aaia's lead. The sun was in the middle of the sky when Hope noticed Aaia to be acting more wary than usual. He didn't question it at first, but as time went on and the heavy atmosphere didn't disperse he saw the need to ask.

"Aaia," he said as he caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder. She flinched upon the contact and Hope scolded himself mentally for forgetting that due to her blindness she wouldn't have known he was going to grab her. "What's wrong? Something seems to be worrying you."

Aaia directed her sightless eyes at him for a moment before diverted them away again, "I don't know. Something about this place doesn't seem right. I know it could just be how this place is foreign to me but it feels like it's more than that."

Scratching her chin as she continued to think, Hope frowned, "Is it anything bad?"

Aaia shrugged, "I don't know, perhaps. We could wait and see, but that could be dangerous."

"How so?" Serah asked, budding into the conversation. Aaia looked in her direction and responded.

"If there is something here that can harm us for example. For instance while this place is one best avoided by them, there's no saying that Valhallans aren't here. You never know how far they'll go to retrieve you two."

Beginning to walk again, Aaia mused, "It's not a nice situation isn't it?"

Staying where she was Serah asked, "Is it one you've been in before I wonder?"

Stopping by the closest tree, Aaia halted. Without turning around she questioned, "Perhaps, but perhaps I don't trust you with my past enough to tell you." Twisting on her heel she turned quarter way around, "Just like how you don't trust me as I am."

Flinching, Serah diverted her gaze sheepishly. "It's not that…" She mumbled in her defence.

But Aaia shook it off, "It does not matter, your lies mean nothing to me. If a lie has no purpose they are useless, your truth will do me more use than your lies ever will. You are right in not trusting me, Hope too, though he does not do so as much as you do. Humans are naturally trusting creatures, it can be a nice asset, but a curse as well. I could be anyone and you'd never know. Even an enemy." pausing briefly, an odd look passed over her face as the said, "The person who first told me this lesson said that due to this even a great enemy could pose as anything, a friend, a family member, even a lover. And you'd never be the wiser."

Turning the full way around, the girl said in a lighter voice, "but warnings aside I do implore you to trust me, I mean you no harm, I am only here to give you help. But of course, I know that listening to me is entirely up to you in the end, if you choose not to I cannot change your view." Stopping briefly again she added with a shy smile, "but I hope you do."

Her part done, Aaia smiled briefly again and with a nod of her head turned around and began walking again. Sending a look Hope's way Serah started after her. Doing the same, Hope followed after them both thinking about Aaia's warning. Funnily enough, but he was pretty sure he had been less wary of her before she'd said it in the first place. But he'd wait and see what the span of the day would do to that.

**…:…**

As night fell the three of them took shelter in the shadow of a great tree. The roots were raised high from the ground all around them and offered them protection from all directions but the front. They ate a small dinner of the many fruits that grew around them. Meat had been a missing part of their diet for many days now, but there was no remedying that with no edible animals about. It was strange but neither Hope nor Serah had seen any an animal about ever since they had first come to this place. Aaia said that there were some about, but generations of living in an area Valhallan dominated had long taught them to fear the white skinned ones. Neither of them questioned how she knew this.

As the night ticked by Serah fell into a sleep sitting up against one of the roots of the tree that guarded over their camp. Hope was sure that she hadn't meant to fall asleep there, especially considering the position she was in, but she had done so regardless. Thinking how uncomfortable it looked sleeping like that, he lifted her up and laid her down on the ground. She remained asleep throughout it and once she was placed on the ground she snuggled into the hard earth and crawled into a ball.

Laying his back against a tree afterwards, Hope stared up at the night sky for a while. When he eventually tired of that, he sought out something else to occupy his attention. His eyes landed on Aaia where she sat on a branch of the tree behind him.

Staring at her curiously, he noticed her playing with the bandana that hanged around her neck. Watching her twiddle her fingers around the black fabric, he asked her having nothing else to say, "Why do you wear that?"

Looking at him curiously in turn, Aaia counted with equally as little reason, "And why do you ask?"

Hope shrugged, "There wasn't anything else to ask. I'm just bored I guess."

Pursing her lips, Aaia looked down at the object in question, "Well apart from how I like how it looks, it covers this tattoo I have on my neck."

You have a tattoo on your neck?" Hope said, not expecting it, "What of?"

"Of nothing really, it's writing." Aaia answered, continuing to play with the fabric around her neck.

"So what does it say?" Hope probed.

"Sukurae, sousurei, isupara" She answered with a shrug.

Letting out a sigh, Hope laid back on his hands, "I shouldn't have expected English out of you should I?" Pausing his eyes went back to the girl, "Are you going to give me English?"

"No." She answered without a thought. Leaning up against the tree she tacked on, "If you had wanted English you should of asked that first and I might of obliged you."

Sighing again, Hope placed his hands on his knees as he leaned forward again, "I should of guessed as much."

"Mmhmm," Aaia hummed, "If a foreigner has something tattooed on them you should very well expect it to not be English. And I have no reason why I should translate it for you."

Knowing that further probing for an English translation was useless, Hope chose to go down a different topic of conversation, "Why do you have it anyway?"

Purging her lips as she decided whether to give him an answer or not, Aaia slipped off the tree and landed on the ground by Hope. Lifting a hand to her neck she undid the ties of the bandana and slid it off her neck. As it fell, it revealed three foreign characters running vertically down her neck on the left side, as well as three unmentioned small bronze piercings in the shape of roses in the middle of each sign. Running a finger over the decorations she explained, "It's a tradition among the Valhallans that when a child turns eight one side of their neck is tattooed and pierced. Their piercing has to be either gold, silver, or bronze. It's their choice what but nowadays it usually depends on how much money the family has. Which has unfortunately made it become a way of telling wether a family is poor or rich, which is a shame because it was originally something that signified who a person was. Like their heart I mean, their personality, and if they were a good person or a bad one. So it's sad that it has been lost on most people."

Staring the shining piercings, Hope got up so he could get a better look at them. Even though he was not a very big fan of bronze, he had to admit they were very pretty things. Still, there was one more question in his mind that he had to ask, "Hey, seeing as yours are bronze, did that mean you had a poorer family? Sorry if it's rude to ask."

Aaia shook her head, "Not at all, I don't care what you ask. But no, I didn't have a poor family, in fact I could of chosen any of those metals. I just chose bronze because I didn't want it to become something that would say what I was and not who I am."

Watching the soft light of night glim off the rose piercings, Hope asked, "So why do you hide it then?"

Looking to the side hesitantly, Aaia took a moment to respond. Her answer was worded meticulously carefully, "I said I didn't want the decorations on my neck to say what I was but who I am, well it did, but not in the way I wanted it to. The men that you know as Valhallans, the ones that torture these lands, you must have already surmised that we are of course of the exact same species. But we are very different in ways of views and character. Those brutes mindlessly follow a false King who lusts for dominance; my side do nothing but deny this false King. But in doing so we have made great enemies of him and his followers. Bronze may be the most common piercing colour but my roses are superfluous, most people pierce their necks with rings. To them roses stand out in a crowd like blood against white. They like to use them to hunt me down. I would be a fool not to cover them."

Slightly taken aback by the length and detail of her answer, Hope asked her as she turned her back to him, "Why did you get roses then? Wouldn't it have been smarter not to?"

Answering with her backed turned to him Aaia said, "But then I would be being untrue to myself. Rings are not me, the roses are. They are things of beauty that are laced with thorns, imperfect. But that's just how it's supposed to be, for there is nothing perfect in this world." Walking away from him and sitting by one of the large tree roots on the ground, Aaia remarked with her grey eyes turned to the sky, "It is getting late, it is best that you go to sleep soon, I will wake you for the next watch."

Hope nodded and took her advice, "Yeah." Lying back down in the shadows of the tree, he stared at the star laden sky for a while before closing his eyes. As sleep hovered close, he couldn't help thinking how much Aaia saying there was nothing perfect in this world had unnerved him.

**…:…**

Dawn came, and with it the time of waking. It was a humid morning and there were dew dripping off the foliage when Serah woke. Like always Aaia and Hope were the first to rise. The tired look in Hope's eyes led Serah to believe that he hadn't been awake much longer than her. Sitting up she wiped the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

Hearing her Hope turned to her from where he was sitting with his back to the tree, "Good morning."

Rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes, Serah replied back, "Good morning." Placing her hand in her lap she looked around their small camp. She found Aaia was sitting in her usual place in a tree branch but nothing much else to note. Shifting her position, she got up off the ground and walked over to Aaia.

Arching her neck up so she could see her she asked, "So what are we doing today?"

Looking down at her, Aaia answered looking a little worried, "Moving on, we were just waiting for you to wake up. Something about this place just doesn't feel right; I'd like to get away from here as fast as we can." Slipping off the branch she landed by Serah and dusted herself off. Pointing northwards she told her, "There's a small stream over that a ways, we'll go there for a drink and then head off, alright"

Scratching her ear, Serah nodded, "Yeah." Truth be told she'd have rather stayed for a while. She was still tired and since she wasn't used to travelling for so long and as frequently as she was now she was getting more worn out as time went by. But she was as worried by the bad feeling Aaia was getting as much the girl was, so she wanted to get away from here fast.

Nodding back Aaia walked past Serah to where Hope was sitting, "Getting up?" she asked.

"Yep." Hope responded pushing himself off the tree, "So we going?" He said looking over to Serah.

"Yeah." She said with a nod.

Nodding back, the two followed after Aaia as the girl set off down the path. They found the small stream where she said it'd be and took a drink from it before beginning their journey in earnest.

The day passed without event. They followed Aaia as she led them through the forest without complaint. Until around midday or so Serah pulled into equal stride with her. She procrastinated for a while before she got herself to ask, "Hey, where are you taking us?"

Flicking her eyes to her briefly, Aaia answered, "For now, safety, which is something we won't find around here. I brought you to this forest hoping it'd give us a decent amount of it so we could get out of this territory without coming to harm, but I'm afraid it hasn't turned out as I hoped. There is something dangerous here."

"How do you know that anyway?" Serah cut in. She'd been curious as to how the girl had known of danger here considering it had looked safe enough. What had tipped her off to something wrong?

Aaia did a little frown and scratched her cheek sheepishly, "It's hard to explain, but I've just always been able to sense things."

"That so?" Serah said, deciding that she may as well take her for her word, seeing as she'd heard of much stranger things anyway. Turning back to her Serah let her continue, "So, as you were saying?"

"Ah well, there's no point in leaving this forest now, it's the difference between travelling in a Valhallan infested area and one of much less immediate danger. So I'm going to take you two through this place until we're out of the territory. Once we are out it'll be much more safer for us to travel. We'll see what to do from there."

"Hmmm," Serah hummed. It all sounded well enough, but there was still the thing that Hope had said to her couple days ago that was hanging in the back of her mind. How Aaia could just be doing all of this to lead them into danger. She tried to ignore it, because by this point it was sounding very preposterous. For all the girl had told them had pointed in the other direction, and she'd talked of the Valhallan's leader so venomously she just couldn't be on their side. But the thought still lingered. She guessed Aaia had been right on how she didn't trust her, for she didn't, not at all. To her the girl was a mystery, one she refused to trust. Not that she didn't try.

The day continued on from there with hardly another word uttered. Morning progressed into noon, and noon into afternoon. But all the while Aaia seemed very worried, and became more so as time passed. Whatever was wrong was doomed to come, and they weren't far from a clearing up ahead when Aaia stopped dead.

Serah became worried when the girl took in a panicked breath and whispered without turning to them, "It's her."

"Hm?" Serah mumbled, taking a step closer to her.

"It's her, she's here." The girl repeated in a louder voice, "I'm so stupid, I was guarding against Valhallans when I took you here, but there was nothing stopping her from coming after us!" She gulped in another breath and spun on her heel to face Serah and Hope, "You have to get out of here, now!" She screamed.

But it was all for nothing, for as soon as the words had left her mouth a voice that filled Serah with dread rang through the trees," Too late little birdie."

Before they could anything, a shape jump down behind Aaia and landed a heavy hit to the back of her head, knocking her out instantly. It disappeared and within milliseconds whoever it was had grabbed hold of Serah from behind and kicked Hope into a tree with a heeled foot. Placing a hand over her mouth to halt her from screaming, a lock of golden hair wafted into her vision, and an unknown female voice whispered in her ear.

"You're coming with me."

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><p><em>And fun. It's sort of funny how I'm getting into a habit of giving my chapters names that have something to do with things that happen in the last couple sentences.<em>

_Hope you liked the chapter. Please review, I'll love you for it._


	10. Help

_Hello everyone, here's the tenth chapter of ET for you._

_This chapter was a big pain for me to write, not necessarily because it wouldn't write itself but because my mind wouldn't except it as good enough to post for a week. So I had to spend a week constantly going back to fix up bits of it. And the thing is it wasn't that bad to begin with, it probably just had a lot of words that didn't need to be in there, and knowing me there's quite likely still heaps in there and I just got use to it. Also many grammatical mistakes, can't forget me and my grammatical mistakes, I'm infamous for them to my sister. Can't say I'm as bad as Kalicy-darling or anything, but I shouldn't bee as bad as I am._

_Also secondly thanks for the review Onimimi, I love getting them off you, and everyone else who reviews. They truly make my day._

_But anyway, on with the chapter, I really hope you like it and it isn't quite as full of useless words as I think._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.**

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><p><em><strong>Help<strong>_

Coming to, Aaia was struck with the sense of being shaken. She opened her eyes. Hope was calling her name, but until now she hadn't been able to hear. Shaking her arms to signal him to let go, he backed off to allow her to sit up. Sitting now, she rubbed her head, pained by the hit she had taken. Serah was not there, that much she knew. She frowned and looked to Hope, feeling a great stab of anxiety in her chest.

He shook his head, "Whoever knocked you out took her." He answered sounded as sad and worried as he looked.

Blowing out a sigh Aaia moved into a kneeling position, her frown becoming more pronounced she said, "It was the blonde woman wasn't it?"

"Huh," Hope hummed, "How'd you know that?"

"I felt it before she knocked me out remember; she has a very distinctive presence. It was unmistakably her; I just didn't react quickly enough." Aaia explained, disheartened.

Seeing her depressed demeanour, Hope tried to cheer her up despite the miserable situation. Giving her a shadow of a smile he told her, "Come on, it's not your fault this happened, there was nothing either of us could do to stop it."

Her facial expression unchanging Aaia mumbled more to herself than anything, "That is what you say." And got up seemingly intent on moving on.

Frowning when he saw how little an effect his words had on her, Hope was late to react to her change in position. Blinking his eyes at her he asked," Where are you going?"

"On." Was her indistinct answer.

Getting up himself, Hope was struck with a pang of worry and quickly asked, "Hey you don't mean to-"

"No!" Aaia cut him off in an instant, her voice filled with an emotion other than sadness, "I failed to protect Serah but that in no way means I'm going to give up saving her. But we must keep moving. The blonde woman can move much faster than we have the luxury to, plus she knows these lands better than us. She'll get ahead to the Valhallan's main base of operations here faster than we can catch up to her, so simply following after her is useless. Our best chances of saving Serah are meeting up with one or two of my people of this side and getting their help in saving her."

Silenced, Hope nodded his head. Looking up to Aaia he apologised, "Sorry for almost saying that you weren't going to help her, I'm just-"

"Scared for her." Aaia finished for him twisting her head around so she was looking in his direction.

Hope nodded.

Aaia gave him a little smile to show she got it, "Don't, people have told me worse when their scared, but thanks for apologising. You know I'd never abandon you two, I'm only here to protect you." Letting the smiling slip from her lips Aaia motioned for him to follow her with a nod of her head, "Now come on, it's still a long way until we're safe, if that woman's alright with coming in here then I know of others who will do the same."

Following her, Hope thought of the Black haired man who had questioned him relentlessly and chuckled a little at Aaia's words, "I think I've met a few." he muttered.

"You probably have." Aaia remarked as the two of them made their way to eventual safety, and if all went well, Serah's as well.

**…:…**

The world was dark where Serah was. She sat in a small stone cell somewhere in the bowels of where she was being held. The only light came from a small opening at the top of the cell on the back wall. Seeing how earth could be seem at the bottom of the opening it led Serah to believe she was somewhat underground. But exactly where she was she didn't know. Her captor had bound her limbs and covered her eyes while they travelled here but did not do her the luxury of knocking her unconscious. So she was completely aware of herself for the entire journey. In time of course that journey had to end. And after a couple hours spent in the woman's captivity they came upon this place, a base of sorts Serah guessed, and when the blindfold was finally removed she was in this cell. Apart from that, there was nothing more to tell apart from all the voices she heard as they were taking her down here.

It was strange perhaps but the men she heard, for that was what they were, addressed the woman in a way that was mixed with fear, admiration, and the weirdest of all, disgust. Disgust so complete that the polite and formal words they used to address her seemed the most wrong thing in the world.

Creasing her face in thought, Serah decided to drop the topic for now. At this moment she should be putting greater emphasis on her own troubles, not the standing the woman who took her here maintained among the men. Not that she wasn't really interested in it; but she needed to take the time to assess her own situation.

She guessed it would have had to be a few hours since she was taken, dark light showered in from the opening in the cell wall to signal it was now night. She couldn't summon much more deductions other than that. She didn't know how to get out of here, or what could be done to get her out. She didn't know what had happened to Hope and Aaia after she had been taken, but she prayed for their safety. The bad thing was that there was no way to be ascertained that was even a possibility, for all she knew they could be in this place with her. It surprised how she felt it with so much conviction, but with Aaia knocked out she didn't feel like the two of them had an ounce of safety in these surrounding lands. And if her worries were true and they hadn't managed to get to safety then all she felt was hopelessness. She was no match for those who held her, getting to ground level was impossible, escape was delusional rubbish.

Blowing out a sigh she rested against the back wall. She felt so tired now, the most she could do was sleep.

**…:…**

When Serah woke next it was much later, and she was no longer alone. Outside her cell stood a man, the shadows of the hallway outside her cell hid his face but she had a feeling that he might be a very handsome man. Though the vibes he radiated made her feel uneasy. Whoever he was, it wasn't safe for her to be near him.

Stepping forward he grabbed the bars of her cell. Serah could now see that his face was twisted up into a gleeful smile, but his eyes were still obscured by the darkness.

"Serah, right?" He asked, but the sound of his voice gave her the impression that he already sure of the answer.

Nevertheless she nodded, not very sure if he could see the movement in the darkness.

Seemingly he did, and the smile widened. "I was hoping so, because if our little pet had brought to us the wrong person we would have had to reprimand it severely, and it never takes well to such actions. Likes to bite back unfortunately, it's a nasty flaw in its demeanour. But not one that affects it too bad, seeing as it hardly ever fails us nowadays. Frequent punishments taught it that."

Serah flinched instinctively at his words. Despite how she had been treated by her captor Serah almost wished she wasn't saying what she was, "By pet," she started, "You don't mean the blonde woman who took me here do you?" Even though she already knew it, she dreaded the answer.

The man laughed, a chilling sound, "Why of course, who do you think I'm talking about? We have others like her of course, but none of them have the intensity, destructive power or finesse as great as hers. There's hardly any other we'd trust to capture you, trust me I know, the others failed."

Swallowing over a lump in her throat as the man's aura was starting to get the best of her, Serah said more than asked, "The others you talk of, is the black haired man. I met one of them."

The man gave her a nod, "Quite so, he's back in our custody now after his failure at the hands of that Black haired WENCH! But he seems rather intent of behaving like a rabid dog and isn't listening to his masters, but punishment will fix that in time."

Fighting down her disgust at the way the man was addressing his own kind like animals Serah figured out quickly that he applied the previous term 'wench' to Aaia, and grew curious as to what had happened to make him direct his hate towards her so vividly, apart from the obvious.

Looking up at him again, something in her told her that any question about Aaia wouldn't be answered and more than likely only anger him, so she turned to the one sure question she had left. Preparing herself for his answer, she asked timidly, "Who is 'us'?"

Raising his eyebrow at her, the man's smile grew again, "I was wondering when you'd pick up on that. 'Us' is me, and the Untundra. Of course he can't come down here to talk to you for he is otherwise indisposed and doesn't have time for such talk, but I don't mind it." He halted with another pull on his grin, "I like talking to the prisoners, I can say whatever I want. Besides," he breathed leaning his face up against the bars so that its features were finally revealed to Serah, "Your life is forfeit. You are in our hands now, and it's the Untundra's orders that you are to die."

Serah drew in a great breath as she was filled dread as she looked upon the man blissful face. _'Die'_ was the word that resounded in her head as she took in his black hair with the slightest of purple tints to it. _'He'd said 'die'_ was her only thought as she took in his sharp angled face, handsome but a little too wide in the jaw . The dread ate away at her as she looked at his straight and firm teeth that reminded her all too much of fangs as the dismal light gleamed across them in the darkness.

Then the man laughed, laughed like what he said was actually funny. Laughed like he hadn't told someone they were going to die. Told someone whose friends and family had no idea if they were still alive. Laughed as he spoke of cutting off what little hope they may still hold for her.

Horrified she barely registered the man's words as he began to walk off laughing to himself, "We'll kill ya when the Untundra is no longer busy. Don't worry you'll be kept in that cell nice and far away from all who could save you. I'd like to see that black haired WENCH! -break her way into here!"

Hearing the last note of his laughter die off the reality of her situation began to crush down on her. Serah fought to breathe as the walls closed in around her, and she began to cry.

**…:…**

Hours had passed since Serah had been taken, and night had come and gone. Hope still followed along behind Aaia as she led them out of this seemingly endless forest. The conversation was kept to a minimum.

The thought of how she was acting pertaining to certain aspects of their travel had Hope curious. Silence was of the essence, making just a little too much sound as he walked was a no-no. Unfortunately for him, their views regarding what too much sound was were very different. Military training and all and he couldn't keep up with Aaia orders. That's what made it so interesting to him. He'd been in the military for years and she still beat him. Her every movement was practiced and purposeful. Convert and deathly silent. In fact she moved more in a military fashion than most actual soldiers he knew, himself included. Though he wouldn't say it to her it put him off a little seeing as he was an officer and all.

Staring at her now, praying he didn't break a stick under foot while his attention was diverted, he saw that she was a ball of curiosity. It made him wonder if there would ever come a day when he'd figure her out.

**…:…**

More time passed and the sun rose higher in the sky when they finally made it out of the forest that dominated the landscape. The land they came out into wasn't too different much to Hope's dismay, seeing as he was getting thoroughly sick of forests just about now. The place was loosely plastered with clutters of trees and vegetation spaced in infrequent intervals. There were also long grasses sticking up out of the ground here and there. And at the horizon one could see the outline of a greater forest area spanning as far as the eye could see.

Halting here Aaia said one of her first speaking pieces of the day, "By nightfall I'd like to try and reach that forest area, or as near to it as we can get."

The childish side of him wanted to complain about all the forests but Hope shut it down easily. Though he may be sick of them, the forest afforded much greater safety than here, practically out in the open due to all the empty space.

He nodded his head at her proposal, "Yeah."

A certain note in his reply made Aaia turn to him, "Getting bored of the forests are we?"

Hope cringed; he thought he had hidden that from his voice. "Yeaah, sort of."

Shrugging her shoulders Aaia replied, "In your case I don't blame you, but if I could see I don't think I would tire of them." Holding her hands behind her back, she started to walk forward once more.

Raising his eyebrows at her answer Hope started after her, "How come?" He asked.

"Because this is the first time I've ever been in them." Aaia answered honestly.

Taken by surprise Hope burst out, "Wha? Have you even been close to one then?"

"Nope." Aaia responded with a shake of her head, "Never even been remotely near them."

Hope shook his head in blatant surprise, "Where in the world did you live?" He mumbled in disbelief

"The city." Aaia joked sarcastically.

Quieting down and following along behind her Hope couldn't mind but think that joke and all, there had been some truth in Aaia's words. But what was that truth, whatever it may be, was beyond him.

**…:…**

Once nightfall came the two of them had barely managed to get to the edge of the forested area by the time the sun set. Though they decided to go in a little deeper so they had better security during the night. Not much talk went on between them afterwards and they quickly settled into to their well-practiced roles of sleeper and watcher.

Laying down on his back ready to go to sleep, many thoughts bombarded Hope mind, stopping him from dropping off to sleep just yet. Aaia was as always in the past few days, his minds favourite subject. But he put all his questions about her on the back shelf for now. Because what he was worried about right now was Serah. Whether she was safe, in any possible way. Alive even, would be good enough for him, seeing as he had no idea what might have happened to her after she was captured. It gave him a bad feeling to remember how much emphasis Aaia had put on the Valhallans wanting them dead, so he prayed with all he had that she was alright. If anything happened to her while he could have done something to prevent it, he didn't think he'd ever be able to look their friends in the eyes again, especially Snow. He frowned sadly then he thought about how hard the man must be taking all of this, if word of his disappearance wasn't enough, he had to deal with his wife going missing right afterwards. It was sad to think about; and it made him wonder how the rest of them were taking it too. But he had no way of knowing.

Sighing quietly he tried to put these thoughts to the back of his mind so he could get some sleep. If he didn't do so as soon as he could he'd find Aaia's watch ending all too soon.

The next morning Hope and Aaia were back up and moving further inland. This time much to Hope's relief, Aaia seemed a lot less tightly wound. Watching her mood for a while longer he made a note of it. "You seem livelier today."

Giving him a brief look, Aaia shrugged, "This place is safe, I feel that here."

"Safe how?" Hope asked.

Aaia shook her head, "I'm not sure, I'll guess we'll see."

Taking that for an answer Hope went silent. If she didn't have the answer he might as well let the course of the day reveal it for him.

Though it didn't happen quite as he thought it would.

A little while after noon he began to feel eyes on him, but since Aaia didn't react he put it to being some animal hiding in the bushes.

But then it just kept continuing.

And continuing.

And continuing.

And continuing

And continuing.

And you guessed it, continuing.

Eventually driven mad by the small irritating sensation of unknown eyes watching him from somewhere in the world he turned to Aaia and asked her exasperated, "Okay I know you can feel that, who in the hell is watching us?"

To his surprise, she laughed. And like, really laughed, to the point that she was bent over double in a failing attempt to rein herself in. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked up to him, "Oh that's just a stalking idiot. I realised she was watching us earlier but then just pretended not to notice to drive her insane. Except then she figured out what I was doing, so she just started to wholly stare at you to drive you mad because she got bored with just stalking me. And of course when I realised what she was doing I just sort of joined in to see how long you could hold out."

Staring at her like she'd said the weirdest thing in the world, Hope nodded his head slowly, "Uh huh." He wasn't sure what parts of her explanation he should take seriously. But like it always was with Aaia, even that part was decided for him, in the strangest way possible.

He turned his head to the side so he could scan the area for the culprit but found himself face to face with a woman with messy blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail hanging from a tree branch by her legs. She was stroking her chin as if thinking deeply, but turning to him and giving him a wink she destroyed that look with the words, "Isn't she a little freak? I didn't even do anything and she realised that. Little freak indeed." Nodding her head like she'd said something meaningful she unhooked her legs from the tree and landed on her feet. Her words, while mean sounding to Hope were revealed to be by the smile on Aaia's face and the way they made her giggle, an affectionate term. Obviously, these two knew each other.

Recovering from his shock, Hope took the time to take in the woman's form. She was slim and had all-black attire, from black boots that rose to her calves, too short black shorts and a belt. As well as a black sleeveless button up blouse that showed off a little too much of her sizable cleavage. She looked to be about forty and wore on her arm a black band, trimming with godly white feathers not unlike the ones on Aaia's crystal earrings.

Summoning his words finally he asked her, "Who are-"

"Who am I you ask?" She said cutting him off, "Doesn't matter. I've got more important things to tell you than that."

"You know where Serah is then?" Aaia asked her without a seconds notice, drawing Hope's attention.

The woman made a funny shape with her lips and replied, "No, but I think whoever told me this information did."

"What is it then, is Serah safe, what can we do to help her?" Hope burst out.

In response, the woman smiled, "Oh you don't have to do anything to help her, someone's already there to do that for you."

**…:…**

The sound of something hitting the ground woke Serah up. Looking around, a figure caught her eyes standing in front of the bars. She instinctively flinched when she thought it might be the man from before, but it wasn't, it was a girl. She stood leaning over the bars, her shoulder length curly black hair falling to her front, and her altered Pulsian military uniform still visible in the dark. The nameless girl smiled at her, her grey eyes twinkling.

"Want help?"

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><p><em>And done, hope you liked it.<em>

_You know the one thing that 's bothering me with this story, Aaia keeps trying to make herself this really serious character, when she's a bloody crazy person. It's why I liked the last bit with the blonde woman, showcases some of her insanity. Anyone who feels my pain with characters trying to change their personality on you, it's not very nice is it, especially when there as important as Aaia. The thing is though, she'd still crazy in my head, but she just doesn't write down that way and it's very annoying. At the very least I pray it fixes itself up in future chapters._

_Also, may I ask, but why did I notice as I was putting the authors notes on here that my sister wrote 'Nya' at the bottom of the page while she was proof reading this? It's a nice question, considering I don't see what Nya had to do with this chapter in it's I entirety. Meowing has nothing to do with ET Serah! Gave me a laugh though._

_As always, please review, I'll love you for it._

_~Claire_


	11. Freedom without a name

_I'm so sorry this wasn't updated earlier but I wasn't writing over the holidays, had way too many distraction . Namely my friend who lived over my house and that I was away quite a bit towards the end. I went on a holiday to Melbourne, it was the first time I ever went there. I have to say but that place is absolutely amazing for shopping, and coming from me that's a lot seeing as a single detail on a piece of clothing can make me hate it. But I walked into a store and my first thought was that I loved it. Also got my shoes for the convention I'm going to later this year._

_I'm a drowning a little in homework and assignments so for the first few weeks of school I've had to sacrifice some of my writing time so I haven't really been getting much headway in my chapters. I not to sure how things will turn out in the next few weeks so I can't promise it'll get better, but I'll always be writing._

_Hope you enjoy the chapter._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.**

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><p><em><strong>Freedom without a name<strong>_

Serah followed the darkly garbed figure in front of her through the many chambers of the underground passage. It spawned a vast amount of area, held hundreds of different twists and turns and seemed never ending. Despite this the girl who broke her out of her cell seemed to know exactly where to go. She turned each corner without a hint of hesitancy. When Serah asked her how she knew where to go, she's simply said that she remembered the way.

Though Serah felt strongly that remembrance might not be enough to stop them from getting lost, there was a much more pressing matter in her mind. The sheer enormity of this place. The girl had told her that these were the underground cells of the military base that the Valhallans had taken over near Bodhum. But by now though she doubted not that the military base was far behind them and they were now in nothing more than underground passageways. Serah couldn't think of a reason they were here. Sure there was a need to have cells within military bases but not ones that stretched for kilometres on end. It brought to mind so many questions Serah didn't have an answer to. Like the obvious one of why cells of this magnitude were in a place like this. The two of them had been walking around the labyrinth of corridors for well over an hour now and still the girl guiding her made no move to stop or move towards an exit of any sort. They were structures of mystery that didn't end.

In the unending time they traversed the dark hallways they came into contact with a few Valhallan men, but in the dark it took no more than clinging to a wall to hide their presence. Serah was surprised that there were even people this far out, but the girl told her that there were hidden entrances everywhere. She guessed that it was one such entrance that this girl was taking her to.

Serah was correct, but it still took another hour to reach their exit. There was a ladder bolted to the wall leading into a small exit tunnel that appeared to be closed by some means at the top. Climbing up it without a word, the girl entered the tunnel and disappeared from Serah's sight. The sounded of something metal being twisted was heard and looking up into the narrow tunnel Serah saw that the girl had removed the lid enclosing it from the outside world. Without looking down at Serah the girl said, "Come up, climb up."

Waiting until the girl had climbed out of the tunnel herself Serah got onto the ladder and lifted herself up through it and out into the night. It was a new moon so there wasn't much light so Serah could only just see the outline if the person beside her. Not much better than in the tunnels really, but at least now she could confirm that she was definitely wearing a cloak.

Moving away from the entrance to the corridors the girl told Serah, "Come on, we have a long way to go."

Following her Serah left the hole behind them and went with the girl into the encircling forest. They travelled many hours more before she told Serah it was safe enough area to get some rest. Serah slept little, and wasn't much better rested when the girl roused her to get moving again.

It was light now; the sun was just beginning to peer over the horizon dying the clouds beautiful shades of orange. Serah bathed in its beauty. Cooped up in the safe house she hadn't seen things like that in a long time. She looked down sadly and felt a pang of sadness hit her with that thought. The price of their safety had been to give up even the sunrise. Thinking about it, they had given up a lot more things too, things much worse than just the sunrise. All because of these men who held their world and lives hostage in a war that wasn't their own.

Rising her eyes they landed on the girl guiding her through the forest. Watching her, she wondered what her story was. Who was she and what had her life been. She figured easily that she was one of 'their' side like Aaia, but she wished she had a name to give her. Not just to keep calling her 'the girl' like she had done with Aaia before she gave her that alias. But that made her question why this girl didn't give her one. She didn't see the harm in self introduction, so what did this girl see in it? That brought her back again to the question of who she was. Who was this girl that she never told Serah her name or showed her face to her?

Wait, what?

Serah almost stopped dead in her tracks, she hadn't realised it until she'd thought that but she was yet to see this girl's face. This entire time in the daylight her back had been to her and at night it was too dark to see. Serah didn't think it was accidental, since paying attention to the girl's movements she saw that all of them were too purposely done. She was intentionally moving in a way that hid her front from Serah. This made her wonder who the girl was all the more. To be involved with the Valhallans like she was, she didn't think it would be a nice story. Aaia's little one certainly hadn't been. But operating under the impression that this girl would be as reluctant as Aaia to tell her about herself Serah left the thought there, realising how futile it was.

The hours ticked by as they trekked and soon it was afternoon. Still they continued. Past rivers and over hills, Serah followed this girl without a name. Exhaustion was biting at her heels but the girl never stopped. Always it seemed that she was ready to jump at any sound, never trusting her environment. About that, Serah guessed her intuition was right. For they couldn't; not with the war mongers who called themselves men around. Every moment outside was a moment of danger and uncertainty.

And true to fashion, that danger personified itself. It started first as the sound of a stick breaking, then as a man charging towards them ferociously. He roared and the cloaked girl dodged under him. The man went head over heels and landed hard on his back side. Madded by the humiliation of his surprise attacks failure he shot up.

But as Serah saw, his fury fuelled motivation quickly vanished. Staring at the face of the darkly garbed girl in front of him his own twisted in a hideous mix of recognition and fear. He stepped back and his mouth fell agape. Suddenly, regret took over his every motion.

"Tulat yue," he whimpered piteously, "Sarken ven yue!"

Watching him back off some more Serah heard the girl chuckle humourlessly, in his foreign language she replied back, "Itavan viet, ven yue chazo dincru davith fia raiz fann un koden."

Then she moved, and with wonder beyond belief Serah saw that the earth moved with her. It threw the man off his feet again and he landed metres away. He tried to scramble up and flee but the girl was moving again. She danced closer to the man and the wind danced with her. It lifted the man up and set him back on the ground with a heavy thud. Her arms went skyward and the man was pinned where he was standing with shackles of rock. Then came the fire. With immerse beauty the girl channelled it around her with grace as she spun on her heels. Around and around she went, flying closer again to the man. She came alive with the fire; she spun and twirled it around her like it was a part of her. In a flash Serah saw her hood fall down and the girls locks as black as midnight flew around her. In this moment she was truly alive.

But then it ended, and the fire came down on the man. Yet it missed. At first Serah was dumbfounded, for all her previous show how could the girl have missed him? But then the girl summoned more fire to her fingers and in a powerful movement she blasted it at him, and then more and more and more and Serah realised it wasn't an attack but a scare tactic. All she was doing was making the man too scared for reason.

But then that ended too. And in one movement the girl went from standing in front of the man to being right in his face. Grasping his head painfully she yelled in accusation, "Am thin sarmot vu yue rund plase!"

"Tulan!" He whimpered back, "Itavan onne ai fout; thin itkin sarken non fan nell!" At the end of his straw he broke into tears.

Letting go of him, the girl turned to Serah, and once she saw her face Serah realised how truly stunning the girl was. She saw again her short hair, most of it falling in curls at the sides of her head and her grey eyes. But it was the girl's face that took Serah's breath away. Since in the dark cell last night it had been too dark to make out. But she had to be only half Serah's age, not even twenty. And she was gorgeous, a true beauty.

Serah was speechless at her looks, but the girl hadn't seemed to notice, in English she relayed to her, "He says there isn't anyone else around here, we should be somewhat safe, but I never trust a Valhallan like this one."

Nodding her head not even taking in that she was doing so Serah followed the girl as she began to move away from the sobbing man and back onto the trek. So enthralled by how beautiful the girl was it momentarily left Serah's mind that she should have questioned her on how she had attacked that man back there.

**…:…**

They were moving again now, a night had passed since they were attacked and Serah stilled hadn't quite figured out how to ask the girl about what she'd done with magic. Since missing out on her original chance she hadn't been able to force the words out of her mouth. That didn't stop her from thinking about it though. What that girl had done should be impossible for those except L'cie. From the insignia on her clothing Serah presumed that the girl was a part of the Pulsian military, so she could easily have access to manadrives. But manadrives don't get that powerful. So that left only the option that this was a power she created straight from herself. But Serah didn't know of any other than L'cie who could do that. Yet her intuition told her that this girl couldn't be a L'cie. So what was she then?

The question ate away at her, but she couldn't voice it no matter how hard she tried. So instead she asked, "Where are you taking me?" She'd asked before but she didn't even get a verbalised response, so for a while she just trusted her guide to take her there. But now she wanted to know.

"That question again?" The girl said.

"Yes, can't you at least give me that? Serah asked.

Humming to herself as she pondered the girl responded, "Somewhere."

"That's not an answer." Serah grumbled.

"It's the best one I can give you, the place I'm taking you has no name, it's just a place." The girl clarified for her.

Puzzled at the answer Serah inquired, "And why are you taking me there?"

"So you can meet up with Aaia again. Our information network is vast here on Pulse; she'll know where to find you by now. All I need to do is take you there and leave you for her to find."

Serah paused for a moment before the meaning of those words hit her, "Wait!" She shot out suddenly, "By leave me there do you mean that you're literally going to leave me there alone in a place like this?"

The girl didn't say but her silent reaction was enough to give her the answer.

"Why?" Serah probed.

The girl tensed, "I cannot…stay there. I just…can't" She girl told her falteringly. Perhaps Serah might have argued more, but something in the girl's reply stopped her. She didn't like the question.

So she gave up the fight knowing well the insanity of leaving her in a place like this. But when it got down to it if that girl was going to leave her alone then there was no stopping her. She could disappear into the trees and be lost to Serah forever. So she walked silently by as the girl led her to whatever destination she was taking her.

Sometime just before noon, the girl stopped. "Here." She said, and nothing more.

Serah sat down on a rock sticking up out of the ground and watched her. The girl seemed a little sad, and Serah wondered if something she had said had gotten to her in a bad way. Obviously though something had, because the girl didn't just leave her there, but she didn't seem to want to be there.

In the minutes they sat there, Serah on the rock, the girl kneeling by her side, Serah found the strength to ask, "What was that before?"

"You mean what I did against that Valhallan man?" She inquired.

Serah nodded; there wasn't anything else she could mean.

Gnawing on her lip the girl said, "I'm not a L'cie, if that's what you're thinking."

Serah froze at a certain sound of sureness in that answer. It showed in her face.

The girl didn't even look up before she said, "We know who you are Serah, and we know what you were. Don't be surprised. But I'm not anything like what you were."

"Then what are you?" Serah asked earnestly looking down at the girl.

A sad look passed over the girl's face, and then she said, "That is not a question I will answer, but know this Serah," she said looking up into her eyes, "We were always here."

A moment passed then and reacting to something Serah could not see or hear, the girl got up and left. Not a minute later Aaia appeared at her side, Hope soon on her heels.

Serah was vaguely aware of their questions about if she was alright. Serah answered them all but she never took her eyes away from the spot where the girl had disappeared through the trees. In the corner of her eyes she saw that Aaia too kept her eyes on that area. It seemed that she too knew that the girl who had led her here was still leaving that way on a path they couldn't see.

Almost not at all she heard Hope ask her, "Who helped you escape?"

She answered truthfully, "I don't know."

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><p>Hope you liked the chapter.<p>

This was an annoying chapter to write because I have another character now that doesn't give away their name when they meet someone. I have three of them now, and trust me in this story they'll be plenty more. Though I don't know if all of them will get into the story. They'd be a lot easier to handle if I was a better writer, but there's nothing I can do to fix that but get better now can I.

Please review, I'll love you for it.


	12. Powers

_Hello everyone, and here's the twelfth c__hapter of ET for you._

_I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, I feel horrible about it. I'm really bad with procrastination. Though not all of it was procrastination, I've started year 11 at school and homework and assignments were crazy for a little while. Luckily this term I've mostly just got tests so I don't got tonnes of assignments taking up my writing time. But the next chapter might get delayed a little because I've got homework for English extension that might take up my writing time for a week, hopefully not that long. I hope._

_Enjoy the chapter._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.**

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><p><strong><em>Powers<em>**

Claire ran her hand against the tree, feeling its rough bark under her hands. Drawing her hand away, she looked over her shoulder at the woman standing silently behind her. Stepping back from the tree she asked the woman, "Is this okay, Lye? Are you alright with leaving this place? Aren't you scared that Zai won't be okay by herself?

Lyella smiled somewhat sadly to her, looking up at Claire she answered more surely than what her expression gave away, "It's not so much a question of whether I'm alright with it, I don't have much of a choice, we need to leave. Especially you Claire." she said fixing her with a hard stare, "People with a power like yours can't stay in a place like this with no protection."

Claire averted her eyes from Lyella face. Self-blame welled up in her stomach. Powers, her own little secret she'd hidden from those close to her. She wasn't the only one with powers like the ones she wielded, Lyella herself being one of them. Only it was the need to protect certain ones she alone had that warranted this escape.

Seeing Claire's face fall Lyella changed her smile to a more positive one, "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault. There was no stopping this, it was going to happen eventually. Besides," Lye added with a shrug, "Zai's got her aunt to look after her, she'll be fine."

Her facial expression improving for the better hearing this, Claire put on a cheeky smile, "And how is this sister of yours taking having to look after a kid for you while you go off goddess knows where."

"Oh you know" Lye replied nonchalantly, "She's not so happy with it. I mean she loves Zai and all but the whole going off to someplace she doesn't know worries her. I could worry to the worlds end about her but she'd worry about me ten times more." Adopting a more serious expression Lyella finished, "She gets it though, she's always got it. She knows there's no stopping this, she won't try to stop me."

Pushing off the tree Lyella began to walk off meaning for Claire to follow. Only Claire didn't just yet. Smiling sweetly at the thought she said out loud to Lyella, "Your sister's a really nice person."

"I know." Lyella responded, smiling too. Of that fact, she couldn't be gladder.

Running her hand along the tree one last time Claire sent a pray to the heavens that both their families would be safe. That done she hurried after Lyella.

**…:…**

Time passed, somewhat uneventfully for Claire and Lyella. It all depended on how you defined uneventful. They were at constant threat from all the common terrors associated from traversing Pulse. Fiends on endless supply for one, but they weren't the problem. Lyella was strong, and so was Claire. The biggest trouble they faced on their travels were the Valhallans they occasionally met. But these too, were dealt with quick. None seemed to realise the threat of Lyella's strength before it was too late. As strong as Claire was, she wasn't as strong as Lye. Among a range of other abilities, the woman was a seasoned warrior. A relic of a culture long lost, for before the sparse remains of Pulsian tribes learned to hide from them, the Valhallans butchered their warriors.

Lye was just lucky to escape the culling.

It didn't take long for Claire to learn to truly appreciate the woman's strength, the true bounds of which she was sure she had never seen. She would be a great asset to the main fight against the Valhallans instead of this background work she did. But Lyella didn't do fighting in the limelight. She preferred this type of working.

Claire was pretty sure it also had something to do with a few choice people who just didn't like her. Though Lye didn't like them anymore than they did her, so it was probably for the best that they were kept apart like they were.

There was another reason for Lyella's shadow work though, one she'd been kind enough to tell Claire. She was helping out a friend she said. This friend was in a very specific bind and they needed a very specific person to help them. Only no one really knew where to find this person. Lyella knew enough about how to track them down but their exact location was utterly unknown. What's more was ample evidence to suggest that this person had no wish to be found. It was quite an irritating situation.

Claire couldn't see herself putting herself through such a situation on a favour for a friend. But she knew too, just who this 'friend' of Lyella's was. They had a lot of history together, and Lyella would do much more than just this nigh impossible favour for them. It was a sort of, die for them without hesitation deals. Not that Claire fancied Lyella dying on her, but it was a consolation that she knew this friend wouldn't hesitate to do the same in return.

Breaking out of her thoughts Claire looked up at the darkening sky. It'd be night soon, she must seek some shelter.

**…:…**

Claire stood watching a field that stretched out ahead of them. In the middle there lay a military base, or at least it used to be before the thing got overtaken by Valhallan scum.

Pulling back from the twisted log she was hiding behind she said to Lyella, "Why do they do that? Take over the bases?"

Lyella shrugged, "Well there are a few good reasons for that. One it's a show of strength. And it was always important to them who was the strongest. Another is that is gives them a big advantage over our side. Walk across that field now and those guys up on the walls there will shoot you full of arrows. Of Couse," Lyella paused, "It was never a defence that was meant to hinder 'our kind'. People like us could easily deflect those arrows right back at them."

Getting up off the ground she tacked on, "Of course if we did the latter action it'd inform them that 'our kind' are near and they'll be on us like nothing else after our heads. Men like those at that military base always liked to kill for trophy."

Staring back at the base behind her, Claire mumbled, "So a detour then."

Lyella nodded in response, moving off.

"Someone should really do something about these pest and their bases. People of our kind would fit that bill quite right, wouldn't you say?" Running her finger along the log behind her it cracked.

**…:…**

Claire sat amidst the roots of a great tree in wait. The sun was high in the sky marking the noon hour. For her though the greater events of her day had scarcely begun. All that was left for now was to wait until Lyella returned for them to begin.

The woman was out someplace meeting with someone from their side so she could get her hands on some information. They had their hands on little of it lately. Not much had come their way since news of Aaia's appearance on Pulse. So Lye had taken it upon herself to show some initiative and go after it herself. If luck was on her side Claire wouldn't have to wait much longer.

This much longer became half an hour hence before Claire spotted Lyella's figure approaching on the horizon. Within ten minutes the woman reached Claire's side.

"Good to see you today." Claire joked, it had been a day and a half since they'd split ways and had agreed upon a place to reunite.

Lyella 'hmpmed' and leaned against the tree, "Could say the same to you." Letting a pause pass between them Lyella directed her eyes to the distant western horizon. "So we headed off on a charming escapade this fine day.

"That we are." Flicking her eyes up to Lyella, Claire said, "Seeing as you've returned alone can I safely assume no one on your information route offered to help us."

Lyella laughed, "Same as always."

"No one then." Claire replied back in a knowing voice, getting up off the ground, "We'd best be going then, don't want to be late for our date with screaming Valhallans."

Laughing again, Lyella followed and walked after Claire as she set off in a westerly direction.

**...:...**

Later that afternoon found the pair kneeling in the branches of a tree watching over a wretched looking military base 'infested' as they would have put it, with Valhallan pests.

Lately they had given into a little divergence from their original mission. An altered mission from the original that incorporated the main plain of action with another activity. Nothing much, just something that boosted the overall convenience of all their side who fought this war.

Smiling as she shifted her vantage point Claire asked Lyella, "So how we tackling this one?"

"Easily enough. Get to the core without being seen best we can, same old routine from there. Destroy it." Lyella replied with a shrug a smile tugging at her features, like the whole thing wasn't so big a deal.

Not that it was. Since this small little divergence had come about, this was the fifth military base they had destroyed so far. Who better than them? People with powers out of the human norm suited this work perfectly

"Ready?" Lyella whispered

"As always." Claire responded.

Jumping from the tree, a single scout heard the noise and turned in their direction. Upon sighting them he opened his mouth to yell a warning to whoever was in hearing distance. Only as the slightest sound began escaping his lips Claire clenched her hand shut and it vanished. The first example of this power of hers for today. Not so much magic as most people called it, but a manipulation of nature around her.

In the grasp of her powers, surprised fluttered in the man's eyes as he grasped his throat and fought to makes noise. His eyes so intently locked on Claire as she flashed him a smile he didn't even notice Lyella come up behind him and knock him out cold.

"One down." She muttered.

From there, it was easy.

Ascending a steel pipe on the side of the building Claire swung in through a window. Surveying the immediate area real quick she ascertained that there was no immediate danger of enemies. Moving away from the window Lyella jumped through and landed by Claire.

"'Kay," Lyella said excitedly, "Time to do this."

Moving forward, Claire took the lead soundlessly. Pausing at a corner, she looked around it cautiously. There were some men a ways off, but none were looking in their direction. They were easily avoided.

Though their strength and large statues made Valhallan men like these dangerous enemies in a legitimate fight, they were easily exploited. That is to say, they were extremely arrogant. Just because they were strong they thought themselves unbeatable. That their defences could not be beaten. So they never placed enough guards in any given place, leaving their overtaken military bases open to attack. It was their luck that few people existed who were of the right calibre of crazy to try and fight them in any way.

Only it was Claire's luck that her and Lye were just two such people that'd they'd attempt a feat such as this. She smiled, only their 'crazy' wasn't quite the common use of the word.

Slipping past some more men too distracted with what they were doing to bother to look in their direction Claire whispered back to Lyella, "So, you know where the core of this place is yet?"

"Not quite. But I'm getting there." Lyella mumbled back.

_'Good enough for now'_, Claire thought. A quick scan of the exterior of this base had revealed it to be considerably large. The two of them wouldn't have to worry for a couple more minutes now about finding the true core. It'd give Lye time to locate it.

Moving through the base silent as can be both girls traversed corridor after corridor of similar architecture sometimes barely avoiding getting caught within someone's sights. The level of guard in this place was laughable. They had two intruders on their hands and they weren't any the wiser. It was a testament to their joint stupidities. Not that all of their kind were this stupid, the Untundra, their leader, was in fact quite cunning. So were many of his close confidants. Sadly for them the drones of this beehive could resemble them more.

Well, not for Claire and her side of course, but it was a constant thorn in the Untundra's side. This she knew. And she found it no end of hilarious.

Coming to a halt, Lyella took the lead, checking the place for anyone she walked up to a door. Placing her ear against it she listened in to the voices coming from the inside. "Here." she murmured.

"The core?" Claire inquired, coming to stand at her side.

Lyella nodded. Stepping aside Claire took up her previous position in front of the door. Looking up at Lye's face Claire waited. At the slightest nod from her friend she returned her attention the door.

Tapping her finger on the door it blew off its hinges and flew into the face of a man standing opposite. He was pushed off his feet and slammed against the wall. The strength with what it hit his head almost made Claire feel sorry. But she didn't have time for feelings like that right now.

Recovering first a single man charged at her only to spontaneously burst into flames. Flicking her eyes back to Lyella Claire saw the woman's eyes were locked intently on the man. Elements were her thing.

Turning back she walked into the centre of the room. The men in return charged forward at her so she raised her arms and flung them outwards. The men were thrown off their feet and smashed into the wall. If not knocked out on impact they were left either too dazed or too scared to try to charge at her again.

That was the problem with their arrogance. They fancied themselves so strong, that when an enemy defeated them they grew scared. So pathetically scared Claire thought as she eyed them with disdain. She cared not for cockroaches like them.

The sound of footsteps signified Lyella walking up behind her. Without turning around Claire knew that her target was dead. Looking over her shoulder at the taller woman her eyes spoke a final permission.

Directing her eyes back to the front, Claire's gaze landed on a specific man lying still conscious opposite her. Smiling at him with an expression void of humour, eyes tinted with malice she clicked her fingers. All around them the walls screamed in response. They cracked and fell apart, slowly collapsing. The sound grew louder, and soon more sounds burst into life to accompany it. Everywhere the sounds of dying walls could be heard, everything from plaster to steel screeched as its life was snuffed out and it tore and broke apart. Clenching her hands Claire concentrated deeper. It was a task easiest from the core of a building; to do it from any other position was likely beyond her. For even with a clear circle in her mind to follow the path of destruction, the amount of protracted concentration the task required was immense. The strain it put on her body too huge. Not so good for her then that this military base had been sizeably bigger than the others.

Clenching her hands tighter as the destruction worsened Claire heard Lyella draw closer to her. Feeling herself weakening under the strain her knees began to give out. The blackness began to gather at the corners of her vision. Shaking violently now as she fought to stay upright Claire put what was left of her strength into concentrating just a few seconds more. She was rewarded with the sound of the roof collapsing above them. Knowing her job done her legs gave out beneath her and everything went black. Her last sense was that of Lyella catching her as she fell and then nothing more.

**...:...**

Opening her eyes slowly, Claire came to. Noticing first Lyella's close proximately to her she realised her head was on the woman's lap. Doing her best to sit up she tried to shake some feeling back into her body. Looking around her she saw that she and Lye were still in the middle of the collapsed military base. All around them were scattered remains of metal structures and debris. Along the scene she spotted specks of blood. Most if not all men inside should have been killed. Turning her eyes from the scene she thought how she called so little for Valhallan men like these. They weren't human no, but still living beings. Yet that meant nothing to her, she saw them only a pests. Not that she was the only one that did so. She knew Lyella's view to be easily worse, if at least more complex. Though it had to be conceded that it was hard to feel for these men when they would not feel for the people they inflicted horrors on. They were men of worse calibre than her that was for sure.

Turning to Lye she asked, "We going?"

"Sure," Lyella answered lazily, "if you're up to it." She said with a smirk.

Raising her arms Claire hit a road block, "Ah, I seem to have no strength in my limbs."

Getting up Lyella sighed, "If you knew that big a base was going to knock you out you could have at least let me help. You've done yourself in as is."

"If you could do what I do you'd do it yourself Lye. Besides your way is too loud." Claire said smiling.

Her eye twitching hearing that name, Lyella reached her hand out, "Want help?"

Staring down at her slightly raised hands and then back at Lyella, Claire replied, "I think I'll need a little more than help. I can't particularly feel my legs."

Sighing Lyella put her hands on her hips, "Have it your way then." Reaching down she lifted Claire up and swung her over her shoulder.

Screaming in surprise Claire banged on Lye's back, "Hey, hey, hey I think piggy back is a bit more traditional. Couldn't you just pick me up that way?"

"And I could also pick you up bridal style, but I'm more used to this." Lyella replied good heartedly.

"Really?" Claire mumbled questionably.

"Yeah. I used to carry dead animals like this all the time." The woman answered without missing a beat as she began to walk towards the distant horizon.

"Oh so I'm a dead animal am I?! You couldn't make a nicer comparison?" Claire complained loudly hitting on Lye's back again.

"Why not?" Lye hit back, "You're 'bout as heavy as some of those little boars I used to kill. You're a small little thing but you're so tall so you're much heavier than you look. Just like those good old boars." Laughing at her reminiscence Lye readied herself for Claire's next wave.

The younger girl stuck her tongue out at Lyella and kicked at her chest still begging her to stop calling her an animal. The more she argued, the more Lyella laughed and the more she added to her comparison. All in all, it made some fine conversation for travel.

**...:...**

That night Claire sat by a tree near the borders of a forest. Her strength was returning but she wasn't quite back to her old self. She hoped by tomorrow she'd be well enough to walk as she didn't love the idea of Lye having to carry her again. The argument was fun though, but it wasn't like she'd admit it. Lye probably already figured that anyway, the two of them got on well. Claire couldn't remember any real arguments between them ever really happening. Save perhaps on account of Claire calling Lyella by that specific name. She had no love for it and it showed.

Staring over at the woman in question Claire's mind wandered to different subject under the moonlight. Gazing up into the sky where the moon shone bright she asked, "Do you reckon mum is alright?

Stirring at the question Lyella said, "Her?" Pausing, she answered with a good level of sureness. "She should be, considering Aaia's with her and all. Why do you ask?"

"Just asking." Claire said quietly. Word had reached them recently of Serah's short capture and imminent rescue. "I'm just worried for her."

Giving Claire a friendly smile Lyella said almost as if it was funny, "Claire if you're going to be worried about someone, at least be worried about your father. Your mum's got Aaia to look after her, he's by himself."

A smile came to Claire's face, "You know even though I probably should, I'm not afraid for him. I feel that he's alright. That old tank would be fine in most any circumstance."

Leaning back Lyella conceded the win to Claire, "I guess you're right. Predictions have always been your forte anyway, I won't argue with you."

Letting a silence raise between them for a while, Claire finally spoke. "Hey, Aaia, she's one of the strong ones right?"

Staring at her strangely for asking something she'd already known Lyella answered her, "Of course."

"Stronger than me?"

Once again staring at her strangely Lyella thought over then question hard for a few moments. After a time she replied with, "I don't know, you're too different. She's just older I guess."

"Just older." Claire mumbled under her breath. Getting up she wandered over to a tree farther away and leaned against it. From here she had a clear view of the night sky unobstructed by branches of any kind.

"Why are you so worried? Even the girl our side sent to help Serah escape from her capture is strong. Not like Aaia, but strong. Our kind is always strong, and considering there are so few of us, you should be thankful our side sent one of us to help Serah."

"I guess." Claire mumbled, looking down, she lifted her eyes to Lyella, "Only not all of 'our kind' is on our side to help us like she did," pausing Claire's eyes returned to the sky. "They are on the other."

**...:...**

'Achoo!

Wiping her nose a woman with long blonde hair and black attire stared up at the sky from where she was lying on the ground. Lowering her sunglasses that no longer had any use, vibrant velvet blue eyes gazed into the black depths of the night.

A single sneeze she thought, someone must be taking about her.

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><p><em>Hope you liked the chapter.<em>

_Off topic but my sainted nan has brought me a new laptop. Which I needed so bad because I was just using my brothers old shitbox that had got up to the point that I couldn't even watch anything on it anymore. Word died on it too __so I couldn't write or do my school work unless I stole my sisters school laptop (Since mine died ages back) So yeah, my nan is amazing, because my family could have never afforded buying a laptop right now if hell froze over._

_Also you know you've watched to much Naruto lately when Claire did that thing where she flung all the men back and all I could think of was Shinra Tensei. Way, way too much Naruto. I almost feeling sorry for Itachi and Gaara too because they've been caught up in my friends retarded inside jokes. Meaning Itachi is now a princess and Gaara is a queen now called Goku. Go figure I don't know how that happened._

_If any thing in the chapter confused you just PM me or leave a question in a review and I'll explain. I'm convinced I could have explained things better in the chapter, but I don't whether I'm just being paranoid or not._


	13. I know you

_Hello everyone, welcome to the thirteenth chapter of ET._

_I'm sorry I haven't updated since May I'm pretty sure, but I haven't had a break between school assignments since March. But it's holidays right now so I should have another chapter out within two weeks, possibly three. Unless I get really distracted._

_I reckon I could have written this chapter better, but this is just the way it came out. That said it took me four days to write 1800 words, but because it sucked so much I deleted it and then wrote 1800 words in a night. Only took me three days to write the chapter, I'm only updating a day later because my beta only just read over it for me._

_This should be an interesting chapter, I'm just worried I didn't pace it well enough. I'd be happy if you could tell me whether I did or not. Also sometimes I momentarily forget Aaia's blind (because I'm an idiot like that.) if I ever write something that says she can see, tell me so I can go and fix it up._

_Anyway hope you like the chapter._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.**

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><p><em><strong>I know you<strong>_

Seven nights had passed since Serah and had been captured and rescued. She had been a little shaken at first but had recovered quickly. She had even insisted on joining in on the night watch Aaia and Hope shared. Her easy capture had given her a sense of uselessness, which she couldn't shake otherwise. She wanted to contribute to them in some way.

Aaia had been wary at first, but Hope assured her Serah had served as a sentry for years, she had sharp eyes. The girl had consented after that, and if any danger did escape Serah's eyes, Aaia could react accordingly. She was a light sleeper, any noticeable danger was hard to escape her range of hearing.

Serah and Hope had heard no more in regards to her saviour. They didn't know her name nor who she was. Aaia knew more, that much was obvious, but she wasn't telling. The only piece of info they had received was that she was definitely a part of what Aaia called 'their side'. And that was as much as they learnt on that issue.

By now, the large forests of Bodhum were long behind them. Traveling ever north they had come into groves of ancient trees which grew into the sky. Aaia seemed happy here. Though she could not see the sights, she would run her hands over the tall trunks and feel them across her fingers. It appeared a great comfort to her.

It was here that they got a rare concise answer from her to one of their questions. When they asked her where she was taking them she responded, "Not far from here, there is a place where I know you'll be safe."

No more did they receive, but it did alleviate the frustration brought on by all the unclear and avoided answers they'd received off the girl so far.

So the current day passed much like the one before it when they had entered this ancient grove. Hope and Serah kept much to themselves during the day and Aaia led the way. Perhaps not as observant as she was previously. She was too enchanted with the aged trees that spread out along their path to pay proper attention. During the night she would talk to them, more to Hope, but lately she had begun talking to Serah too. She was still unsure sometimes while speaking to her, but she was getting better. It made Hope happier to see that someone with eyes mature beyond their years could still be preyed upon by something like the social anxiety that came with speaking to new people. It was the problem she incurred upon herself by choosing to speak almost completely to Hope at the beginning of this journey.

During their travel through the groves, Hope decided to ask Aaia why she liked the trees so much. The answer was strange, and he thought he must have been missing some piece of information. Because when he asked she answered, "Their spirits are old, gives them nice character."

He wasn't one to believe in trees having spirits, but he let it pass for now.

That night as they settled in to rest Hope continued the conversation. He had his back up against a tree opposite one where Aaia sat similarly. Serah was off to Hope's right resting against a large root with her eyes closed. But he didn't think she was asleep.

"So, what did you mean by spirits earlier?" Hope asked the girl in front of him.

She raised her eyebrows, "Spirits. The souls of living things." She was halfway through giving him a look that said _'are you an idiot'_ when she caught herself and face palmed, "Fuck, I forgot normal people don't know about spirits."

Hope supressed a laugh at the swear, he didn't know who had taught her the repertoire of swears the girl owned, but apparently he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Care to explain then?" He forced out while suppressing the laugh that wanted to get out.

"Spirits are just spirits." Aaia replied, blinking at him.

"But what are they exactly is what I meant, souls like you said before."

"Yeah, they are the souls of all things living." She told him.

"So, like humans and trees?" Hope inquired raising an eyebrow.

Aaia nodded, "All things living." She repeated.

Hope stared up at the trees in question. Having seen so many strange things in life he really should have been more willing to believe what she was saying about the trees. Humans he could believe, he believed in the existence of souls. But the trees were a hard step for him to take.

"Really?" He probed vaguely, sounding unsure about her words.

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards at his disbelief. "Let's put this in terms I know you'll comprehend." She stared hard at him for a moment, her ability to pinpoint his location despite sightless eyes a little unnerving. "A L'cie casts magic by subconsciously hearing the voices of the spirits of crystal, who control the elements. They call on their power and channel the magic through themselves."

Hope blinked, a moment of comprehension passing him. "You knew I was a L'cie." he said.

She nodded, "Yes."

Hope stared at her questioningly, "Who told you?" Catching himself he tacked on, "And don't tell me it was a little birdy this time."

"No. It wasn't the little birdy, someone much bigger told me that." She replied.

"But you won't tell me more than that, won't you." Hope ended knowingly.

Aaia shook her head "No, I won't."

Hope leaned back against the tree, knowing he'd get no more out of Aaia now. Thinking to himself he went back over her words and realised something.

"Hey," he spoke up, "You've just told me something about yourself for once."

"How so?" She questioned, but she didn't look surprised, moreover, the small smile she'd worn before came back to her face.

"Before you said that L'cie cast magic by listening to spirits of crystal, is that how you cast magic?"

"Yes." She admitted.

Hope purged his lips in thought, "Can anyone else learn how to do it."

Aaia paused for a moment, "Yes", she answered in controlled voice, "but it takes many years, if learned at all. I do not know a human who has succeeded. Even among Valhallans someone could spend their entire life and only learn how to hear a very small range of spirits."

"What about you then? You seem like you hear a lot of spirits." Hope asked.

"I was born able to hear them. I hear all Spirits." She replied.

"Really, how come?"

"In humans, the ability follows hereditary family lines. In Valhalla some people are simply born with the ability."

"That so?" Hope asked.

Aaia nodded.

"Hmmm." Hope gazed up to the trees that surrounded them. "Is that why you like these trees so much, because you can hear them?"

"Yes," Aaia nodded, getting up and running her hands along the tree at her back excitedly. "They are old, so they are full of character. They are like those witty old men and women you meet. It is a joy to listen to them." Leaning her side up against the tree now she murmured, "Plus, during the War of Transgressions, there were many fires, and many trees died, so trees this old are a rare joy." She paused "They remind me of trees like this I knew back in Valhalla." In an even quieter voice she finished, "And precious people."

Hope blinked in surprise at the last words. Unsure if he was crossing a line by saying it, he queried, "Precious people?" To see if he could get her to say more.

Whatever light talking about the trees had raised in her face, it was gone now. "Precious people." She said raising to the probe, "who I miss."

"You can't see them?" Hope asked.

"Those in Valhalla I will not see again." She answered.

"Never again?"

"No, I am here for my own safety, but the only one who could send me here is in Valhalla. No one here can admit me back there. I cannot return." She told him, a painful expression seeping onto her pretty features.

Hope eyed her sadly, suddenly appreciated all the more her helping him and Serah knowing this. "That's really sad."

Snapping her head up as if from a trance, Aaia apologised, 'I'm really sorry for troubling you, I've told you something depressing.

"Not at all." Hope defended waving away her concern, "I've always thought it was better to tell someone your troubles.

Sitting back down against the tree, a faint smile played upon Aaia's lips. "That is alright then." Lifting her head to look in Hope's basic direction she said, "Don't worry either, not all those I miss are in Valhalla. Them, I can meet again."

"That's good, at least." He mumbled. He sat back now. A knowing section of his mind confirming that after this fruitful conversation he wouldn't receive much more off Aaia concerning personal information. This had been an amazing amount to receive, as he barely knew anything about the girl.

The conversation was left there, and no one spoke for the remainder of the time as dusk turned into night and sleep began to play on Hope's eyelids. Saying good night he laid down and let himself fall asleep.

It was at this time that Serah opened her eyes.

Across from her Aaia opened he eyes upon hearing the sound of the girl's movements. Her sightless eyes kept watch on the direction of Serah as she righted herself and settled down into a sitting position.

"You were awake that entire conversation I assume." Aaia stated.

"Yes." Serah responded. Watching Aaia in the moonlight.

"And heard everything?" She asked already knowing the answer.

Serah made a sound in her throat for yes. "It's sad. Not being able to see people you miss. I mean, I miss my family, my husband, my kids. I spend hours wondering if their okay, if they think I'm okay, if they've given up on me, or are too stubborn to even begin to. I know my husband will be. But one day there is always the chance of me meeting them again. So long as we're alive. But you, you can't meet those who are precious to you again. I won't even begin to try to say I completely understand how that feels, because I can't." Serah held a hand tight to her chest, and stared directly at Aaia, "I just want to tell you how much I appreciate what you're doing for us, despite how much it must hurt. I just wanted to tell you that before tonight is over."

Watching Serah Aaia replied, "Thank you." as the elder woman laid down to sleep.

In the moon's light Serah didn't see the lone tear drip down Aaia's cheek.

**…:…**

The next two days passed without incident. Aaia grew more wary of her surroundings once more, but she didn't seem afraid of enemy attack. It was a wariness more associated with being close to strangers. So Hope wondered if perhaps they were close to people. Their destination maybe.

Asking Aaia about the matter she said as much. Her words had been, "Soon, you will be there."

Where 'there' was, wasn't clear to Hope, but he trusted Aaia enough to lead them somewhere safe. He didn't think the girl had ever meant them harm. He was yet to know her reasons but she seemed like she did really want to help them.

It was around noon when Aaia stiffened. To his left Hope heard a stick crack, and was only just in time to see someone drop from a tree and point a blade at Aaia before he was joined by companions.

"Wer bist du?" he said.

A foreign tongue again Hope realised. Not one he had heard yet too.

"Bekannte." The girl beside him answered in the man's tongue.

Hope had to supress a sigh. Of course she knew this language too.

The man backed off slightly, throwing Aaia a questioning look, "Welche Beweise haben Sie?"

"Durch das Wort der Göttin, wir meinen, keinen Schaden." She said with a touch of finality.

At this the man lowered his weapon. At an unintelligible word from him to the other men around them, they too backed down.

Turning to him and Serah Aaia told them, "These men do not speak your language, but there will be others among them who will."

"Who are they?" Serah spoke up.

"A Pulsian tribe." Aaia answered her. Serah's eyes widened and Hope cut in,

"A Pulsian tribe, but no one's ever found one in all the time we've lived on Pulse"

Aaia nodded, and with a sad look in her eyes explained, "That is because unfortunately, there is only as many as your fingers and toes on the whole of Pulse. If that."

Hope's eyes widened to match Serah's look of surprise, "Twenty, across an entire planet?"

Aaia nodded, turning her back on them to follow where the men were gesturing them to follow, "Sadly, yes."

Following the group of men they were led deeper into the forest. After tracking for another few minutes the men stopped. Confused Hope questioned Aaia what they were doing. In response she pointed up to the tree tops.

Both him and Serah directed their gazes upwards. Far in the tree tops above them there were wooden structures, tree houses, he realised. Dozens upon dozens of them, all interconnected by bridged which spread from tree to tree.

"Whoa." Serah mouthed awed by the sight. "Never thought that would be there."

"Interesting no? It how they keep away from the Valhallans. This one is still vaguely visible, but no-one seems to harm it." Aaia told her.

The men yelled over to them where a ladder had been dropped down. "They want us to go to them." Aaia told them.

Pausing before doing as she said Hope asked, "Just saying, but how'd you get them to trust us?"

Smiling a little Aaia put a finger to her lips, "Let's call it a secret code." Stifling a giggle at the _'of course'_ expression Hope made at the cryptic answer Aaia began to walk after the men. At least by now he'd figured out answers just weren't something she gave.

Climbing onto the ladder first she hesitatingly reached out for the next rung. It was easy to move through a forest, the trees were loud, but small pieces of cut up wood was so much quieter. She didn't know where the hell the next rung was in regard to the last one. Maybe she should have been glad she couldn't see how far up it went. This way she couldn't be scared of heights and falling off.

Hope and Serah ascended after her, before being followed by the men. When she reached the top, Aaia backed off from the ladder and waited as the others to join her. The warrior men for the most part dispersed when they no longer had reason to be there. Yet one stayed and approached a woman who was standing by a house front closet to them. She had been watching them intently, and there was something in her eyes which denoted a greater meaning to her presence there.

Drawing close to Aaia, Hope asked, "Who's that?"

"The woman?" She questioned.

Uncaring to question how she knew it was a woman he restated his question. "So who is she? She looks-"

"As if she was waiting for us." Aaia stated. Hope appeared surprised, but chose again not to question how Aaia had attained this knowledge, "She is a seer woman; they are not uncommon among Pulsian tribes."

Turning back to the seer woman, Hope saw that the man was done speaking with her and she now approached them.

She was old, with brown hair now thoroughly greyed. Her robes were faded peach and decorated with beads. She greeted the three of them kindly with a nod.

"Good to see you have reached here unharmed." She said with a voice which sounded assured of their coming, "Here, I offer you safety under my own protection."

Hope blinked in surprise at the woman's clear English. "You speak English." he said.

"Of course, Pulsian is a dead language."

"But those men-" he started.

"Come from a far off tribe of warriors, who clung to the old ways. They do not speak a word of any language but their own, and few here understand them. The Valhallans, like with many other tribes including ours, slaughtered their warriors. Varace and his band were roving survivors. Welcome, but foreign even to us." Here she turned her eyes on Aaia and fixed he with a hard stare, "to them spirit talker, I advise you to speak none of what you are. For as they cling to the old ways, so to, do they cling to the old values."

Aaia responded with a knowing look in her eyes, "I expected as much."

Nodding her head as if some sad truth had passed between them the woman gestured to a house close to the nearest one, which was presumably her own. "That house is vacant, and I have organised it for your safety."

Aaia stood up and thanked her for her hospitality and gestured for Hope and Serah to follow her. Walking to her side Hope asked, "If Pulsian is a dead language, why do you know it?"

"Once met a bored Pulsian with too much times on her hands." She replied.

Hope gave her a disbelieving stare knowing she couldn't see it.

Feeling his disbelief Aaia chuckled "I know you don't believe me but I tell you now, it is truly no more than that."

Hope still wasn't sure whether to take that for the truth or not but he let it drop and continued onto the small dwelling the woman had pointed out.

Once there Aaia sat down by a window and closed her eyes calmly, and Serah close by her. Throwing a stare back at the where the woman had been, now gone, she asked Aaia, "Why did that woman tell you not to tell those other men what you were?"

Opening her eyes Aaia responded, "It was an old belief held by the tribes of Pulse that people like me brought about bad luck. Of course," she added on with a bitter smile, "the horrible happenings that occurred in their lives were not their fault, but rather caused by the way the tribes treated them." There was a strong note of bitterness on her voice as she stated thus.

"Why?' Serah continued to ask her.

"There are a number of reasons why it began, but the stigma persisted for far too long to pinpoint where it began now. I cannot answer that question for you." Aaia replied calmly.

Serah directed her gaze elsewhere. "It still sound harsh." She mumbled more to herself than anyone.

A couple more minutes passed in silence. Hope sat in a corner where a resting place had been set up. He watched Aaia and Serah carefully. Aaia didn't make sound, choosing instead to sit quietly by the window with her eyes closed. Hope thought she looked tired. Having taken the longest of the night watches it came as no surprise. She was probably glad of this time where she could rest.

Serah though seemed to have more on her mind.

Another couple minutes passed until she couldn't hold it in no more and asked, "Why here?"

"Why did I bring you to this place in particular?" Aaia responded in return. Though it was a question she sounded sure of her words.

"Yes." Serah said.

Aaia looked thoughtful for a moment and answered, "Because there are no safe houses this side of the great plain. Both the closet safe house and tribe are in Myncentar. I could not take the risk to cross that path with you. It's a five day journey through open land. There is nowhere to hide from enemies. Plus, I knew the seer woman would know of our coming. Here we would be welcome, by her at least."

Serah looked confused for a moment, she seemed to be thinking something in her head but it wasn't adding up. Turning her eyes back to Aaia she said, "But Hope comes from-"

"Yaschas Massif is to the south of the great plain, we can take other routes and bypass it to get to Myncentar or other safe houses." Hope cut in, predicting what she was going to say, "Myncentar lays to the east of the plain, and Bodhum to the west. To avoid it we would have to travel either far south or north, which would take us much longer than five days. In the course of that we could come to much more harm than we would risk crossing the plain. I think Aaia's alternative has been much safer." Here he paused, knowing the true reason why Serah was asking. In a quiet voice he said, "I know you miss your family, but for their sake put your safety first. I don't think it would make any of them happy if you died trying to reach them if you could have avoided it."

Serah fell silent, and Aaia nodded in acknowledgement, "He is right."

"I know." Serah mumbled, clutching a hand to her chest, "but it doesn't make it any less painful."

She pulled a painful expression, and across from her even Aaia's eyes turned sad. There were a painful understanding in them when she said, "I know how it feels."

For a second it looked like Serah was about to bite back a comment but stopped short. Obviously, she recalled what she had heard her say to Hope earlier. The people precious to her weren't separated by distance, but a whole realm. Serah would being able to see her family again, Aaia wouldn't.

"I'm sorry." She apologised, "I'm complaining about something when it's so much worse for you."

"Don't." Aaia comforted, "to you, this is most painful. I've learnt never to belittle someone else's problems, for to them that problem is always the worse thing. I'm separated from people I hold dear, but not all of them. I choose to remain here, glad of at least that. You to, should choose to be happy, learn to love the little things." She gave a little smile. "For one," she said directing her gaze to where the wind blew in from the window, "In the afternoons some of the women here go down and pick the fruits and wildflowers from the trees. A little birdy tells me the flowers are a thing of great beauty. If you want to, you could go join them, I will come with you if you wish." After a slight eye twitch Aaia clenched up her left hand, "Even if it means climbing down that accursed ladder again."

Somewhat cheered by the girl's attempt to cheer her up, Serah replied, "I'd like that." If she had to admit it she found her apparent hate of the ladder funny. A least she'd found some sign to tell her that the girl was truly blind. It was getting unnerving how sure of her movement Aaia was.

"Then later, we will." Aaia said smiling slightly.

**…:…**

That afternoon Aaia lay against a tree bathing in the gentle sunlight which drifted between the treetops. Serah was with the other women, collecting the sweet burbles which bloomed on the trees, fresh for the taking. She could have joined in, she had a fair idea that she could locate the flowers and fruits, but the flowers were useless to her. The fruits a least she could taste, but no matter how beautiful the flowers she would never see them. She felt a pang of sadness at that. She was used to having no sight, but all beauty was lost upon her. It was one of the reasons that sometimes, she really wished she could see.

She lay her head up against the rough trunk. Serah seemed happier, her voice mixed in with the Pulsian women said as much, but there was still a hint of sadness. It was like finally admitting to missing her family had opened the wound she was trying to keep close all this journey long. Aaia didn't even want to begin to imagine as a mother, how much she missed her children.

So she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and closed her eyes. The sun was warm on her skin, and it was relaxing to be able to rest there like this after all the time she spent travelling. Her mind was drifting off into a lazy slumber when another, unwelcome noise reached her ears.

In the peaceful afternoon air, she could hear the sound of swords.

Aaia's eyes snapped open. She jolted onto her legs, focusing harder on the sounds her face twisted in fearful concentration.

Behind her Serah noticed her adverse reaction, "Aaia?" She questioned quietly.

Aaia didn't respond straight away. Instead she shifted her weight onto one leg and focused on the noises of clashing blade. Someone was fighting. Extending her senses she realised that the warrior men who had come down with them weren't there. A bad sign. It didn't sound like the casual fighting they might have conducted among themselves either, but the frantic clashing of sword on sword.

"Someone's fighting." She said.

"Who?" Serah inquired.

"I don't know." Aaia said with a shake of her head, "but it doesn't sound friendly."

Coming closer so that she drew equal with her, Serah probed further, "Where?"

"North."

A curious expression fixing itself on Serah face she moved in front of Aaia, brushing her hand against a tree at her side, she took another hesitant step forward. And another until she was slowly moving towards the source of the sounds.

"Serah!" Aaia yelled in warning. The woman was already moving towards the trees, she must have heard her but wasn't listening. She bit down on her thumb, the world around her was screaming. The voice in her ear told her that whoever was ahead was dangerous. And that of all people, Serah was the least welcome.

"Tch." Drawing her thumb away from her mouth she chased after the woman who had disappeared into the trees.

Approaching a small grove the sounds of swords grew loudest, until Serah stood within the opening of the trees. She didn't know why she had been so stupid to have walked right into the path of danger, but her legs had moved before her mind could react.

Those inside the circle of trees were yet to notice her. It was the warrior men from the tribe fighting against an unknown woman. She wore a black dress which went to her knees and was silted on either side. Every now and again Serah would see a flash of three green stripes which formed claw marks on the bottom left of the dress. Her shoes were black thigh high boots, and the dress was strung around her neck by a silver chain. Her wavy blonde tresses fell to her knees and danced around her in the motions of fighting.

Swinging her gargantuan sword around the woman spun on her heels to face Serah, her face adorned by black sunglasses.

Serah froze.

The man the seer woman had named Varace ran forward and having been disarmed of his sword punched the woman in the face. Her sunglasses fell from her face revealing her eyes, as beautiful as dark blue velvet. She fell back, but recovered quickly and drove her sword through Varace's stomach, slaying him.

But Serah's eyes remained fixed on the blonde woman. That was no unknown woman. She knew her.

That truth resounded throughout Serah's whole mind and almost brought her to her knees. The dreadful recognition in her eyes that shone as she stared at the woman was too much.

Her prey finished, either dead or unconscious, the woman turned her eyes on Serah. Taking no notice of her crumpling demeanour, her face twisted with malicious anger. She dove at Serah, raised her sword, and swung it down hard.

Aaia dashed in front of Serah, spread her arms wide and yelled-

"Stop it, Anaya!"

For one perfect moment, the world paused around them, before shattering to pieces. The woman's eyes cleared as if she had been one entranced. The sword fell, from her hands and a mark of runes which ran down her left arm burned from black to blood hued red.

"Y…you." She stuttered, great sorrow seemed to take her and tears began to form in her eyes. She looked horrified that she had even attempted to swing the sword down at Aaia's form.

Aaia slowly dropped her arms so that they rested at her side.

Behind her Serah drew herself up to her proper height, unaware that she even flinched at all in the face of the woman's blow.

Tears formed on the edges of her eyes as well. She didn't want to begin to question how these two knew each other. The only thing her mind could process was that the woman in front of them was there. That she existed. She choked on a sob as she attempted to speak, the tears falling over her face. Quietly in a sobbing voice she said,

"Lilea."

* * *

><p><em>Hope you liked the chapter.<em>

_The language they were speaking before is only German, because I don't want to go to the trouble of making up another language. I've lost my Valhallan dictionary's twice over so now there are some things in the first few chapter that not even I can translate. That and I have to go and remake them a third time and they are not fun to make._

_The scene at the end is one of the most vivid scenes of the story in my head, so you have to tell me if it was perfect. Though in my head the most important thing in the chapter was when Aaia jumped in front of Serah to guard her (since it was the most vivid image) so I'm more interested if that was good. But Serah's recognition of Lilea is more important. And just so no one mispronounces it , it's pronounced Lil-lee-a. I think it looks a little like li-lee is all. My sister got it right off the bat though. But she's my sister so she gets the way I pronounce things more._

_Please review, I'll appreciate it greatly._

_Bye for now._


	14. The girl with piercing blue eyes

_Welcome to the fourteenth Chapter of ET. Sorry I think I promised this like around two weeks ago. It was harder than I anticipated it to write and my beta had it for a week before editing it. I'm very panicky with this chapter because it's very important and I'm not sure if I did it right, but my Beta didn't mind it, so it's gotta at least be alright._

_And just so you know, the only thing going through my head as I'm writing this is Code Geass. The only thing._

_Enjoy the__ chapter._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Sqaure Enix does**

* * *

><p><strong><em>The girl with pierci<em>****_ng blue eyes_**

Serah backed away, and fell to her knees.

Meanwhile Lilea seemed otherwise preoccupied with the girl in front of her. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to say something but couldn't decide what. Eventually she calmed and stood still.

Staring at the black haired girl in front of her she took in her every detail. Biting her lip her blue eyes met Aaia's sightless ones and she decided on saying, "Aaia Yuto, right?"

Aaia nodded, "Yes."

Lilea twisted to the side and took her eyes off Aaia, "Stupid nickname, it's an insult isn't it?"

"It was when I was given it." Aaia conceded.

Lilea stared forlornly at the grass covered ground where her sword rested. She snapped her eyes shut suddenly as a great pain flared in her arm. She lifted a hand to touch the blood red brand going down her right forearm. It hurt bad. Opening her eyes again she looked across a wider range of scenery to spot the woman on the ground behind Aaia.

This sighting brought on a much more adverse reaction. She picked up her sword from the ground and stabbed it into the earth. Serah jumped. Lilea's eyes narrowed viciously, "You!" She hissed. She lurched forward her hand still gripped tightly around the sword.

Aaia put out an arm to halt her advance, "I think we've already been through this."

Lilea threw her an incredulous look, "You stepped in front of my blade for her, her!" Shook her head and gave a dry laugh, "Seriously, some people aren't worth saving."

"Some people don't hate her as you do." Aaia countered.

Lilea let the comment pass and kept her venomous eyes plastered on Serah's form.

"And as of yet, she has not giving me a reason to hate her." Aaia added.

Lilea toned down her stare her flicked her eyes to Aaia, "You've hated people for less."

Aaia closed her eyes and smiled slightly, "About that you'd be right. Then I'll rephrase my sentence." She opened her eyes, "I have not come to hate her yet."

Lilea scoffed but didn't say anything.

Serah just stared at the pair, tears rimming her eyes. She tried to speak but found herself unable to do so. When the slightest sound escaped her lips Lilea erupted at her.

"Don't you dare speak a word to me you bitch!" She lurched forward again this time with much more abusive intent but Aaia placed a hand firmly on her shoulder to stop her, "Must I repeat myself for a third time Anaya?"

Lilea hissed and pulled her arm away, "Whatever."

Biting her lip Serah rose to her feet and backed off, rubbing tears from her eyes she fled back through the forest.

"You better run you bitch!" Lilea yelled after her. "Tsk." Backing down Lilea looked down at Aaia, "Why do you bother to protect someone like her Shishi?"

"Shishi?"

"I don't want to call you Aaia Yuto if it's what she calls you." Lilea explained.

Aaia pulled at face.

Lilea rose an eyebrow, "Don't like it?" She pulled an amused expression, "Does it remind you of Chishi too much?" Lilea laughed. "You don't like being named after diamond and now emerald too, what is it with you and gems?"

"Gem names are garish." Aaia argued arms crossed.

"Hmph." A small smile lit Lilea's face, "Valhallan values are weird."

"Only to you." Aaia countered.

"And to most other people here." Lilea countered back turning around. She paused, "Where is that bitch going?"

"Probably, back to Hope." Aaia replied.

Lilea flicked her eyes to the girl behind her, "Otorran then."

Aaia nodded after moment's pause.

A moment lapsed between them before Aaia asked, "Will you ever forgive her, Anaya?"

Lilea looked up at the sky with an expression as sure as the knowledge that the sun would rise in the morning and set at night.

"Never."

**…:…**

Serah stumbled through the green undergrowth. She tripped and fell on a rock and grazed her knee. She winced. Sitting up she drew the knee close to her, watching the blood rise to the surface.

Lilea.

The name provoked countless images in her mind. A dark room, a kind man with a fake smile, and a little blonde haired girl with the velvet blue eyes. A little girl with the piercing eyes who she would have never dreamed would turn up here.

Serah had thought her gone. Dead. Never coming back. But here she was, as alive as she herself, and her hate as fierce as ever.

She crushed a hand to her chest. If only that thought had been true, for the girl was her personal embodiment of darkness and Lilea's hate for her was as immortal as time itself.

She began to sob.

**…:…**

Hope made his way through the forest. He had been told there had been some sort of disturbance, and that he would find the two girls who had been with him if he went in this direction. He hadn't been told what had happened, he wasn't sure that those who had mentioned it had known either. Yet the seer woman had told him it was safe to go check.

He had been walking for a while when he caught the sight of black in the corner of his eyes.

"You don't want to go any further than this." Aaia warned.

Hope stopped. "How come?"

"What is in that grove is not a pretty sight."

Hope's forehead creased with worry, "Is Serah alright?"

"Physically yes, but I assume she is shaken." Aaia said pushing off the tree she was leaning on.

Hope stared past her into the grove beyond. He caught sight of specks of red, and the stench of iron carried on the wind gave him ample knowledge on why Aaia had warned him to stop. Watching the opening in the trees some more, he caught sight of blonde hair and a black dress.

He took a step back.

"Relax." Aaia told him, "She will not hurt you. When you met her before she was under cursed trance and not in control."

Hope turned back to her, "Cursed trance?"

"A curse seared into her by the Untundra, so long as he wills it anyone cursed with it will fulfil his orders. You've seen the brand down her arm?"

Hope though back to when he had seen her in Bodhum that time. It was vague but he thought he might have recalled it. But there was another more vivid memory he had of it, "I've seen it elsewhere."

"On the black haired man?" She asked.

He shook his head, "No, I saw it back in Yaschas Missif, at the military base. It was a brunette man."

Aaia's eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened as if to say something but she was speechless. She quickly snapped her head away from Hope's gaze and closed her eyes. She reopened them calm, having suppressed the reaction. It startled Hope. It had to be the most vivid reaction he'd seen out of her since he'd met her.

"Then you've met all three of them." She spoke calmly. Though Hope had a feeling her emotions were still swimming wildly under the surface. She raised her gaze to the gap between the trees. "Anaya and them are used as pawns under his control, they are not our enemies."

"Anaya? Is that her name?" Hope asked.

Realising her slip up, Aaia shook her head, "No, that is simply an honorific name I call her by. Anaya has gone through a lot of hardship and pain in her life. To not give her honour for it would be disrespectful."

Hope listened but found himself wondering what qualified as 'a lot' for Aaia, since by reading her eyes he thought she'd seen her fair share of hardships as well. He wondered if there was anyone out there who honoured her for that.

Watching the grove again Hope saw the woman was now sitting against a tree lazily. It hit him to ask now, "Where is Serah?"

"Somewhere. I hope nearby, but I don't know. I would go talk to her if I was you, her meeting with Anaya shook her up."

"How come?" He asked.

"That I would ask her." She said beginning to walk back to the grove, "Contrary to what it seems, I have never met Anaya in my life. Whatever we know of each other has been told to us by others. If you wish to learn something of her, I would go ask someone who has met her." With that she disappeared between the trees and out of sight.

Hope stared for a while longer, before turning his head away and wondering where Serah had ran off to. While walking he thought, Serah had met that woman before? But where and when? Only more pressingly, where was Serah to begin with?

**…:…**

Serah had since gotten up from her fall and moved elsewhere. Drawn by the sound of running water she located a stream. It sat in the middle of two slopes. The rocks running alongside the stream grew green with algae. The water gave life to everything around it making everything lush and colourful. The water was clear and blue. It was very beautiful. But nothing could distract her tumultuous thoughts.

She stood watching the water flow but no part of her could enjoy its beauty.

She stayed there for a very long time before she began to hear footsteps. They grew louder, and eventually stopped. Looking up, Hope stood by her right. She eyed him, her tears stained face reflecting against the light.

He noticed the tear marks right away, "Serah!? What's wrong? Did what happened before-"

"Not what happened before." She denied shaking her head, "who did it."

"Who, the woman?" Hope queried.

Serah turned away. There was a curious voice in her head that said he would know what she was going to speak of. But it was a farfetched thought, its chances slim. Yet eventually she decided to put her faith in what she had thought his relationship with Lightning had been. If they had been close, he might have known the name.

She redirected her gaze back to him, "Hope," she began carefully, "Have you ever heard the name Lilea?"

The man paused, his face taking a thoughtful expression. He seemed to remember something and focused back on Serah, "I've heard it before."

"Did my sister tell you?"

He nodded. "I don't know who she was though."

Serah thought as much. Still, that Lightning had even mentioned the name held great weight. The two of them must have been closer then she had realised. She felt a pang of sadness at that. Losing her must have hurt him more than she'd previously considered.

"Who was she?" He asked watching her expression.

Serah turned away and took to watching the stream again. "She was the daughter of a man called Harry. I have very vivid memories of him. He had blonde hair, a kind demeanour, and was taller than Snow. He was always nice to me when I was young. He'd been my father's friend, his wife my mothers, it's how they met. After our mother died when I was six we were looked after by a woman, a bad foster mother who cared more about her work than us. I think she saw the money she got from looking after us as another source of income, it was the only reason she kept us. She was rarely ever home and her husband was to sick most days to get out of bed. Her real daughter saw Lightning more as her mother than anything as I recall."

Serah shook her head. "But I digress. That man Harry. He and his wife Abby would come over as much as they could. They couldn't look after us themselves, Abby was far too busy with work for kids. As a result that also meant Harry came over to see us more. I liked him at first. He was really kind to me, always treated me well. But Lightning stopped getting along with him at some point. I couldn't say when exactly, but I think it started around when she was eleven. I didn't know why, not for a long time. But whenever they were in the same room it was like oil and water. He wasn't outwardly mean to her or anything, but she very visibly hated him for a reason I couldn't comprehend."

Serah let out a pain filled breath, and continued, "It wasn't until much later that I found out he'd been abusing her. Treating her like crap behind everyone's backs. I remember her always having bruises. She tried to hide it, but I knew they were there. She never told me where she got them. I didn't think for a second that it could have been that nice man. Not that he was truly nice in the end. Our parents had trusted him, and he'd betrayed that trust brutally. But it was a long time before we found any of this out. And the only reason we ever did, is because not long after she'd turned twelve he tried to kill her. Not before she'd managed to stab him though. It didn't kill him, but it put him in the hospital for a good while. But he put her in a seven month long coma. When she woke up of course and all the truth got out he was imprisoned and you'll be happy to know, died in the purge. Trust me, I checked."

Serah clenched her hand. "But as we found after his attempt at murder, this abuse had been a lot worse than just the physical abuse that we found out after he put her in a coma."

Here Serah paused, as if she was unable to go on.

"What else was it?' Hope urged her on. His grip on his arms tightening.

Serah turned to him, staring directly in his eyes.

"Rape. I'm saying that that woman back there, Lilea, is Lightning's daughter."

* * *

><p><em>And fun.<em>

_My beta called this depressing, but the plot points existed for so long I've realised I'm completely numbed to it. So I don't know what I would call it anymore._

_I had a lot of trouble with the pacing and what not. It's the type of thing which would have been better in a flash back, but for that I would have needed Lightning. And seeing as I don't have her in this story that becomes a physical impossibility. So those last few paragraphs were extremely irritating to get even to that quality. _

_Also I like how Lilea's and Aaia's give and take came out in the first scene. There are a couple characters in this story who have these really awesome give and takes, those two being one of them. I've always been scared of messing them up so I'm extremely happy how well it came out._

_And just so you know, but the way the file opened on my beta's laptop, she saw the last line first but only read 'Lilea is Lightning's daughter. She complained to me after that, but after finishing the chapter realised she was one thousand times more thankful she didn't read the full thing. Would have ruined the whole thing for her._


	15. Behind a revelation

_Hello everyone and welcome to the fifteenth chapter of ET._

_For some reason I'm posting this chapter a week after it was written and edited. Even more strange is that this is the second time in a row I've done this. Both the past two chapters I've written were finished a week before I posted them. I think my mind is subconsciously telling me I have an issue with some of the names I put in the chapters. Since a name in this chapter was meant to be Abbie, but I forgot the name and only remembered it yesterday so I only just put the correct name in. I used Anna to fill in the space. For some reason I always turn to that name when I can't remember what A name I was meant to be using._

_A heads up too, this chapter continues directly from the last one so you might want to go read the last couple of paragraphs from the last chapter to freshen your memory, unless you read them together. It's a short chapter since it's mostly dialogue, but we should have a longer more plot heavy chapter next update. Not sure when it'll be updated since I'm in year twelve now and you know, assignments, assignments, assignments, but I've been doing well with pacing myself with school work so it might be better than six months. Cause I can see that happening if I pace myself badly with school assignments. I've been using Lightning returns to tempt myself to finish all my homework as soon as I get it because it means I can play it more. That game is depressing, I find myself thinking while playing it that the series got uselessly out of hand, I like Etro's temples story more. Like it's not sunshine and rainbows, but it's not the end of the world either._

_Hope you like the chapter._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Behind a revelation<em>**

Hope's tight grip on his arm released. He stared at Serah a gape. He sought the words to describe what emotion her story had brought up in him, but they weren't there. The only word to escape his lips in the end was a pathetic, "What?"

It was like his mind couldn't process it, it didn't actually. It was like putting two and two together that didn't fit. He didn't want to imagine that someone could have done that to Light. She had always seemed so strong when he had known her, that someone could hold such a dominion over her and rape her. He didn't want to think about it.

Yet as he looked up to the bitter expression of pain on Serah face he knew she was telling the truth. The dead truth. She wouldn't lie about this. Never this.

She laughed bitterly, "So strange isn't it, to you? That someone could have done that to her. Someone like Lightning doesn't seem like they could be laid low by something like this. But she was just a little girl then, and that man too large, too strong."

Without warning an angry sob tore itself from her throat. She shook her head in fury "What's worse, she hid this for a year before anyone found out. I don't know how Harry kept her from telling anyone but he did. It probably wasn't too hard though, so long as he threatened to snap my neck if she spoke out I think she'd comply. She never could stand the thought of me being hurt." Serah bit down on her lip and attempted to hold the angry tears at bay, shaking in anger.

Hope sat back to absorb the knowledge. Every word that poured from Serah was horrible, and it only served to beat it into his head just how much what she was saying was real. He clenched his fist, the anger Serah felt towards this man, he understood. In amount only decreased by never having been involved in the incident, he felt it too. That that man did this to Lightning was unforgivable. "What happened to her after that, after that man put her in a coma, what happened?" He forced out.

Breathing a deep breath, Serah tried to calm her building fury. It did little good. "When she woke, she was able to give the details of Harry's crimes and he was prosecuted and found guilty. In a way I'm glad the purge came along to truly kill that man, because even with the vast number of his crimes one day he still would have gotten out." Serah clenched her fists.

Feeling dread from a particular wording in her sentence Hope had to clarify, "Vast number?"

Serah looked to him, and responded bitterly, "Oh yeah, Lightning wasn't the only girl he abused. There were four actually, her included. The eldest fell pregnant, so he killed her. Another we found had killed herself a month before Lightning woke up, and the last killed herself a couple years later. So then Lightning was left, the only one alive out of them all. And she had to bare the man's child on top of it. Can you imagine what it would have been like to wake up eight months pregnant with the child of a man who'd the past year been abusing you every chance he got?" Serah lowered her eyes, "Not that Lightning ever took the same sentiments as I did regarding children begotten like that." She smiled bitterly again and the angry look faded to favour one of her generally being upset, "But that's getting into why Lilea hates me."

Hope startled, "Lilea hates you?" he questioned.

Serah nodded, "Yeah, and I deserve it completely."

Hope narrowed his eyes confused. He didn't see Serah capable of inciting someone's hate and actually deserve it, "How could you deserve her hate? What could you have done to make her hate you?" he fired back.

"Enough." Serah answered meekly. "As it is I'm surprised Lightning doesn't hate me for it either. It was horrible, and I know I hurt them both by doing it."

"But what did you do?" he inquired again.

Serah hesitated. She looked up, then down. When she met Hope's gaze again her own was filled with guilt. "You know how I said Lightning didn't harbour the same feelings towards rape babies as I did? Well, our feelings conflicted a lot. To Lightning, after she got over the initial trauma, she accepted that baby as her own, it didn't matter who the baby's father was because she was its mother. Only, I didn't see it that way. It nearly killed her to deliver that baby, it felt like when I sat by her holding her hand that I was watching her life fade away. As it almost did, her heart stopped for a couple seconds during the delivery. And once Lilea was finally born she was so exhausted that it was almost too much to close her eyes, yet alone open them again. From that moment onwards, I hated that baby, as if I didn't already hate her already. Abbie, the woman who had been Harry's wife shared my hate. We had her adopted out behind Lightning's back, though it was Abbie who took her in the end. I'm not sure why she took in a baby she hated, it might have been out of guilt, pity, I didn't know. I just cared that that baby was gone." Serah bit her lip and a tear dripped down her face, she sniffed, "That hurt Lightning, I know it did, yet I looked on the whole ordeal so heartlessly. Abbie never loved Lilea, she just looked after her, though she did put up a good façade. I just don't think Lilea fell for it." wiping away the gathering tears in her eyes Serah continued.

"Can you imagine that Hope? Having to grow up in a loveless household? If it was up to me, her name wouldn't even be Lilea. It was the name that Lightning's and my mother wanted us to call one of our daughters because it was her mother's name. The only reason Lilea was ever named that was because Lightning put up an argument that was beyond her exhausted state to give. I lost only because I gave up since because I didn't want her to hurt herself further. But I didn't want that child named after our grandmother. I resented it for a long time afterwards."

Serah clenched her hand again, "And Lilea knew it was me who put her in that household. When she was five we met her again. Accidentally really. Sometime afterwards she found out who we were, somehow. But I'm pretty sure it was because Lightning told her. That girl, loved whenever she got to see Lightning, but I still hated her more than ever, and I didn't hide it. That girl represented so many bad things to me, I didn't want her anywhere near me. So soon she grew to hate me too. I can't blame her." She made a sharp intake of breath, "It was only after I lost Lightning that I began to rethink my thoughts about her. Looking back on it now I can't believe I'd been so mean to my sister's only daughter. I despise myself for it. But by the time I began to think all of this, there was nothing I could do about it. When Lilea was eight Cocoon fell and she disappeared, I believed her dead, and it cut me like a knife to think them both dead."

Choking on a sob, Serah's tears began falling down her face in a violent stream, she didn't bother to wipe them away from her eyes anymore. In a quivering voice she said to Hope, "To think that she'd turn up here, of all places. It's like the world's telling me that I can't forget my cruelty. I'm such a horrible person aren't I Hope? For doing that to a kid."

Hope didn't know how to respond, the images provoked in his mind at the mention of Light nearly dying long before he'd met her wasn't pleasant. Of course the things Serah was saying were horrible, but at the time they had suited her side of the party. But sadly just as much as it had held back that side's trauma, it would have increased the trauma of the other. It would have hurt Light a lot either way. It was cruel, heartless, something he would have never expected out of Serah. Still…

"Maybe it was your way of coping." Hope offered.

"Well it's one stupid when of coping." Serah sobbed past her tears.

**…****:…**

Aaia stood by at the entrance to the clearing where Lilea had deigned to sit. The elder girl looked up at the girl across from her. She watched her intently, then asked with a measure of annoyance on her face specifically due to the need to mention Serah, "So what are you three doing here?"

Aaia shifted her weight to another foot. "I'm here to protect." She answered simply.

"I mean those two, why did I have to meet that bitch in a place like this? What's she doing here?" Lilea bit back.

Aaia shrugged, "I don't know the start, but they were both captured by Valhallans. When I freed Serah from them, she was being guided only by grunts, but I found Hope with one of you guys."

Letting her eyes wander to the burning red brand down her arm Lilea understood she meant those under the cursed trance, "Which one?"

"Robert." Aaia clarified.

Lilea nodded, "That kid huh." She shook her head, "Poor guy, to be made to do things like this. Tranced he's just under complete autopilot, he does whatever he's ordered as malicious and brutal as he's been made to do it." She gripped her arm tight and added quietly, "Like that even he'll call me a psycho, and that was never like him. He's too kind for this treatment."

Aaia lowered herself down to sit so she was more comfortable, "If it's anything, when I knocked him out when he was harassing Hope I broke the trance, not that it would have lasted long. But at least it would have given him a little reprieve."

Lilea smiled a little, "Thanks for that." Then she sighed and lifted her arm to the sky to view the burning brand. She mused to herself forlornly, "Do you think that when the Untundra dies that this curse will break? Seeing that the one who cast it is gone. If he could pass the mantle of controlling us over to someone else I don't know what I'd do. It's been so long since I've been myself." Lilea halted, before backtracking as she decided that she had to fix something up in that last sentence, "Well in control of myself at least, being a psychopath and all my personalities no problem. You just have to manipulate my actions, unlike Robert and your guy."

Aaia flinched at the mention of the third unnamed cursed one. Lilea took note. "What, you don't like me mentioning him, if I remember right he was someone important to your side right?" she paused and scratched her chin pondering, "What was his name again?"

Aaia's face turned downcast. "Not important to our side," she said, "precious to us." She closed her eyes against the pain speaking of him brought her, "And his name was Martan."

Realising that she'd touched on something more personal then she'd thought it was, Lilea backed away from the subject. She didn't feel like dealing with someone sad, it was a pain in the butt. She tapped her fingers against her leg, "I guess we all have casualties from this war don't we? I mean, not that I would object to Serah getting violently killed by those Valhallan men you mentioned before like I really wished she would have, but what they've done to Robert is cruel." She sighed again and sat back, "When will this war end Shishi? It's gone on for so long."

"As yet," Aaia told her sympathising with Lilea sentiments, "We don't have the means to end it."

But she was right about one thing, this war had gone on too long, and sadly it's casualties were only going to increase from here on in.

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><p><em>Hope you liked the chapter, my sister told me it was depressing and made her cry, but I'm too used to this plot point so I can't feel what's sad about it like I'm meant to.<em>

_Also I haven't received a review for this story in seven months, in twelve more days it'll be eight. Envious skys reviews don't count cause she's my sister and has in most cases already told me what she thought of the chapter, but reviews becuase she's nice like that. It's been months since I've gotten any review for all four of my stories, I'm going insane, can someone please review._

_Seriously, It'll help my sanity._


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